Arrivial
by a ship nerd
Summary: The Paw Patrol have left for a vacation at Poet's old home. Something goes terribly wrong, and it all starts with a nightmare Everest had. The long awaited sequel to Poet or bandit is finally here! You don't have to read Poet or bandit to understand what is going on however. Read the chapter (The End?) for details as to the story's condition.
1. preference

Preference.

If you haven't read the previous story Poet or bandit, I would like you to do so. It is not necessary however. But I do recommend reading Poet oneshots. If you are new to this story line, then Welcome! If you have been waiting for this story, thank you for sticking around!

Now, before I upload the prologue, there are a few things I need you guys to understand. First of all, I have taken serious consideration into canceling this project. Poet or bandit was and still is my most successful story I have ever written. At the time I'm writing this, it has 11 favorites, 12 follows, and 39 reviews for 19 chapters and 14,656 words.

And I can't thank you guys enough for that. However, to make _this_ project work I will need a bit more support. My end goal is to hit 100 reviews by the time I finish the story. That is a goal, but not a necessity. Reviews are pretty much my payment for writing my fanfictions, as I don't have to do them.

I do have an actual novel I'm writing, plus high school. So I need support, or I really can't do anything about these stories because I no longer find joy in it.

One thing a lot of people complained in Poet or bandit about was the short chapters. So I decided to go for long chapters, but there will never be frequent updates.

Expect a chapter once a month.

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan based parody. I do not own Paw patrol, Alan Wake, Poets of the Fall, the Polar Express, Gravity Falls and anything else I used elements from that I might have missed. I only own changes in the plot, my OCs used in the story, and the reviews, follows, and favorites you guys give me. All rights go to their respective owners. Please support the official releases.

Now with that out of the way, please read and review, and enjoy Arivial!


	2. prologue

Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear.

-Steven King.

In a horror story, the victim will keep asking 'why'. But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it's what we'll remember in the end.

My name is Poet. I'm a writer.

I didn't start out as one, like many writers I struggled with it. A short story here, an article there; then I got lucky when I created a book series named Night Springs. It was my first writing gig. It was random, strange, and most of all, mysterious. The first book I had entitled "Departure". It wasn't the best work I've ever done, but it was the first thing I had created that was minutely successful.

The only other books I've ever created that were as successful were my books "Poet or bandit", and "Poet in deep ice." Both are true stories about me and how I came to where I am now.

The Paw patrol.

These pups and their owner so far haven't steered me wrong, despite what I've brought upon them in the mentioned stories. Speaking of stories, I've begun another piece of literature, something to help right my mistake. And that dear reader, is this story. But unlike the previous ones, I'm not the protagonist.

That role is reserved for another. Someone close to me.

Her name is Everest.

Everest had always had a vivid imagination, but this dream unsettled her. It was wild, and dark, and weird, even by her standards. So yes… It began with a dream.

Following a typical nightmare pattern, Everest was late. Trying desperately to reach her destination, a lighthouse, for some urgent reason she couldn't remember.

Driving above the speed limit in her vehicle, she swerved around another curve, this one in a dark tunnel, and didn't see the hitchhiker until it was too late.

When her paw reached the brake, the vehicle had already made contact with the body, sending the it ahead of the vehicle. Everest's headlights illuminated the body on the ground, his lifeless gaze staring into nothingness.

Everest came to her senses some short few seconds later. She jumped out of her vehicle, and ran to the body. Being apart of the rescue team on Jake's mountain, she knew at least some basic first aid. Part of that was being able to check a pulse. Which is what she did.

A few seconds later, she lowered her head in depression and disappointment, taking his paw off his neck.

He was dead.

Everest at that moment became convinced that they would put her in the pound, and she would never see any of her friends or family again. But before she could ponder it further, her headlights died in an impossibly short moment. It was as if a led covering dropped directly in front of the lights. But there was no sound.

Everest was instantly alert, her new fear kicking in. Almost immediately she looked back at her vehicle, but it took her eyes a second to adjust to the darkness. It looked the same, besides the fact the lights were out. She looked back to the body.

Her eyes shot open even wider, and she jumped back and crawled on her back as fast as her body would allow. When she got near to her vehicle again, she stood back up…

…and stared at the empty space where his body had just been. It was gone, disappeared as if it had never been there. But Everest knew she wasn't hallucinating.

Everest was in shock from the crash, she could hardly stay up on her paws. An overhead streetlight she hadn't noticed before switched on a couple yards ahead of her. She was drawn toward it like a moth to a light bulb. She stood under it, and whatever panic or fear she had been feeling was now gone.

For the time being she allowed a smile to form on her face. The darkness didn't seem so bad now. Gathering her courage, she stepped back outside the safety of the light.

The darkness around her was creeping around her like this thick tar, and the average person would agree. They didn't have to be afraid of the dark to feel that something was off about this night.

She walked down the road that would lead her to the coast, and then to the lighthouse. As she walked, the creeping feeling around her returned. She picked up her pase and glanced behind her. When she looked forward again, she saw open space in the path ahead. A light gasp escaped her mouth as she came to a sudden stop.

The bridge was out. It was partly collapsed on the other side of the cliff, and it was too unstable to jump across. She backtracked, and decided to follow the hiking trail down to the coast. She walked onto the boardwalk and toward another light. On a billboard beside the path, was a poster that almost horrified Everest.

On it was a photograph of her and below it was her name, but above the photo on the poster was the word in bold letters that she had seen before, but it had been for those that had gotten lost, or something of that nature. The word was: **Missing.**

' _Why would it say that?'_ Everest thought to herself. ' _I'm not lost, I'm not missing… Right?_ Everest couldn't remember anything before hitting the hitchhiker, she didn't know where Jake, Ryder, the Paw Patrol, or even Poet was. All she knew was that salvation from whatever was coming was at the lighthouse.

This night was getting creepier by the second. Everest glanced at the poster one more time before continuing her journey down the boardwalk. As she approached the light, she felt some kind of presence behind her. She turned around, and looked back at her vehicle. In front of it was a dark figure, shadows crawled and flickered around him like a dark flame, and it didn't take a horror movie director to know that this figure was dangerous.

She blinked, and the adumbration figure suddenly was at the beginning of the boardwalk, maybe just 10 yards away from her. She flinched backward instantly. Did the figure just teleport a quarter mile? In the blink of an eye?

" **You don't even recognize me. Do you husky?"** It said in a dark and sinister voice that couldn't possibly be human. The ax it wielded was brought up above its shoulder, and then slashed diagonally; ripping part of the wooden railing attached to boardwalk right off its screws. The ax was brought up again, and slashed perpendicular to the previous blow.

The same result happened to the railing on other side. And these two actions kept repeating, taking out the railing and the billboard as the figure walked forward and taunted: " **You think you're an Angel? That you actually make a Difference? That people actually Care About You? Do you even remember what you did to me?! You're in this storm now! And I'll make you Suffer."**

The light bulb above Everest shattered with an audible crack. She backed up further as the figure continued to taunt her, its voice becoming deeper, more terrifying than anything she could have previously imagined. Part of the old boardwalk had collapsed without her knowing. And walking backward she had reached the edge.

One moment her back paws were making contact with rickety wood, the next moment they had nothing to make contact with. She fell back, screaming mostly in surprise, partly in terror. She landed on the smi-soft dirt below, and groaned as she reopened her eyes. The figure was standing there at the edge, ax still in hand.

" **You're a joke,"** It said to her. " **You wouldn't be able to save a single life if it wasn't for your Partner** _ **.**_ **It's not like your rescues do any good! Not like the ones you save actually Matter!** **You're a lousy dog! You can't even get over your fear to save the ones you were supposed to protect!** **It's not like your life is actually worth something! If it wasn't for your** **owner, you wouldn't even be here!** **But don't worry, no one will have to take responsibility for your screw ups again, cus I'm gonna Kill** **You!"**

The figure then turned around, and disappeared like a shadow. Everest then came to two realizations. One, the figure was the hitchhiker she had just hit. Second of all, she knew who the hitchhiker was. It was a hitchhiker who had arrived in Adventure Bay and was dropped off at the summit at Jake's mountain for some unknown reason. A huge storm had blown in, and Everest had been on patrol near by. Nighttime had fallen, but she had still found him.

He was hanging over an edge, barely holding onto a root that had cracked through the rock. She had jumped out of her vehicle to help him; but once she left the light her vehicle gave off, she screamed and froze with fear. Her fear of the dark had a strange tic to it. It only kicked in if she was in the dark. Walking toward and into the dark did nothing. Once she was in the dark however… She managed to launch her grappling hook, but when he tried to reach out to grab it, his hand slipped, and he fell hundreds of feet straight down off the side of the mountain.

Everest didn't leave her pup house for 2 weeks afterword.

What was going on now, it had to be a nightmare. But Everest couldn't think about it, all she knew was that she had to get to the lighthouse. She rolled over, got to her paws, and ran down the pathway where the boardwalk had collapsed.

She reached an open area surrounded by a fence. A gate slammed shut behind her, preventing her from going back. But surely the hitchhiker wouldn't be able to get her now right?

" **You're dead. Just, like, me!"**

"Sh-shoot," she breathed quietly, seeing him in the middle of this 'pit'. He rose his ax once more, and he charged at her. She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and nothing to defend herself with. Her head darted left and right looking for an exit. There wasn't any.

The hitchhiker brought the ax down hard, and Everest rolled to the side. The ax barely missed, sinking into the soft earth below. Everest ran past him, only to find the other gate at the other side closed and locked. She couldn't get over it either.

Once more, the hitchhiker charged at her, swinging its ax to make contact with the young husky. She dodged the attack again, but it still took off a few strands of fir from the side of her face. She ran back to the center of the pit, and turned to look at him again. Only to find a shadow outline of his from that faded quickly; as it did, she heard him laugh. The laugh you would expect to hear from a figure like him.

Then there was nothing.

The gate she had just run from opened with a loud creak. There was no wind, and no one at the gate. It had opened on its own. It was the only place she could go that would lead her the lighthouse however. So, with a deep breath, she continued her journey.

After she walked past the gate, she stepped onto a foot bridge. She crossed it quickly, while the boards below her creaked and groaned under her weight. That only motivated her to cross quicker however. When she crossed to the other side, she felt a familiar presence behind her.

Once more, _he_ was behind her. He was standing at the gate, just before the food bridge, ax still in hand. She couldn't see his eyes, but if she could, she would see nothing. There was no soul behind them, nothing but anti-factual darkness was inside the body. It was as if a dark presence was wearing the skin of the hitchhiker.

" **DIE!"** it shouted in such a manner that it made Everest cringe. Then without warning, the earth shook and a black tornado created from the same dark presence erupted out of the ground, engulfing the bridge on the side Everest had crossed over from. Everest didn't need to be told even once to know it was time to get the heck out of Dodge.

She ran.

Sprinting down the path, the twister followed after her, chasing her down. This was no ordinary tornado, something was controlling it. The weather was clear, and it should have been impossible for one to have formed. Weather it was the dream, or the supernatural forces in the dream didn't matter. The point was that it was here, and it shouldn't be.

She saw a wooden suspension bridge as she rounded the bend, a log cabin was nearby on the other side. Light poured from it. Having nowhere else to go, she charged across it. She heard a voice calling out to her from the other side. A familiar form could be made out by Everest as she charged across. The voice was urgent, and she knew it wasn't the hitchhiker's.

The bridge began to rock side to side. The wooden supports from the side she crossed from began to crack as the tornado engulfed them, trying to drag them out of the ground. The ropes connected to them immediately tensed up, straining under the force of the twister.

As Everest neared the other side, she heard the high tension ropes holding the bridge up above the crevasse begin to snap. The bridge jerked each time one did so. And she just kept running.

"Jump!" the voice on the other side shouted to her. She complied, and landed on the other side of the crevasse just as the supports gave way. The bridge fell, coming to a sickening crash at the bottom of the huge natural ditch.

Everest looked up at the man that had called to her. "Everest? It's me, Captain Clay remember? Quick get inside, there's no time to lose!" he told her. She complied, the open door and light spilling out from the cabin almost called out to her.

As soon as she got inside of the small one storey cabin pointed out by the captain, the door slammed shut behind her; locking suddenly. The captain couldn't open the door, and Everest couldn't either. As they jiggled the doorknob desperately, Captain Clay felt the hair on the back of his neck raise, and he felt the presence of another behind him.

He turned around, and his eyes widened. "Oh no…" he whispered. He reached into his pocket, and withdrew a small pistol. Everest ran to the window, and gasped at what she saw.

It was the hitchhiker.

It began to walk slowly toward the cabin, ax gleaming from the cabin light. The captain ran to the bottom of the stairs, and pointed the gun at the approaching macabre figure. "Stop!" The captain commanded. It didn't stop, or even react to the command.

Captain Clay, checking his aim, pulled the trigger. A gunshot rang through the air. The hitchhiker didn't even flinch. Another shot was fired. Same result.

 _ ***BANG*, *BANG*, *BANG*, *BANG*, *CLICK*.**_

"No!" The Captain shouted as the gun clicked from an empty magazine. The hitchhiker was still walking toward him and started to raise its ax. All the captain could do was scream, only to be abruptly silenced as the ax was brought down a second later.

There was a sicking sound of steel sinking into flesh, and Everest stopped breathing for a moment in shock and horror. She then saw the ax be withdrawn from the captain's body, the latter grunting before falling limp to the ground. The ax was brought up above the hitchhiker's head, then straight back down for the killing blow.

The hitchhiker's face then turned toward the husky in the cabin. And despite the fact she couldn't see his eyes, Everest could tell he was looking right at her. She sucked in a breath and backed up deeper into the single roomed, single storey cabin.

Turning around, she saw a door at the other side of the cabin. She ran to it, only to find it locked from the outside. She was trapped, there was no other way out. Before the she could react to the situation, all the lights suddenly shut off simultaneously, some bulbs even shattered. Then suddenly, the door she entered from splintered and caved in as a black mass barreled through it.

It was heading straight her, and she rolled to her side again, barely avoiding the hitchhiker as it charged past her like a freight train, fragmenting the door she was just trying to open. Then it vanished into the night, much like a shadow would when you flip on a light.

Everest realized she needed to head the same direction it had gone. Both doors were broken open yes, but there was nowhere to go from the door she came from, and she didn't want to see the captain's body again. Seeing him die would haunt her for a long time, she didn't need to see the result again. Plus, the other way lead to the lighthouse.

That sealed her decision, right then and there.

…

Everest was running again. Sprinting down the path way leading toward the lighthouse, she glanced behind her. Before the hitchhiker had just been stalking her, terrifying her; but it had always vanished before it had done anything serious to her. But now, it charged after her in a hard sprint. The moonlight above reflected on the specks of blood that covered the blade of the ax.

Everest looked forward again, and up at the lighthouse. It was closer now, still shining bright. It wasn't too far away and for a moment, Everest let a smile tug at her lips. Out of nowhere, a loose root or stone stuck out of the ground, catching one of her forepaws. At such a dead gallop there was no chance of recovery.

She fell forwards, somersaulting as her momentum carried her forward. She came to a stop as she hit the trunk of a tree. When her eyes opened again, the hitchhiker was standing over her, ax above his head, about to be swung down. She shut her eyes and braced for the killing blow, fear driven imagination picturing a half dozen ways she could be mauled or torn apart.

Just as the ax was about to fall onto her, there was a boom, one that arguably resembled thunder. But despite Everest's fear, she still recognized it as the shot from a flare gun. A bright red glow roared in the space between Everest and the hitchhiker, then it exploded in a blinding brightness. The hitchhiker howled in pain, the ax it wielded fell to the ground, then there was nothing.

Everest reopened her eyes, and she expected to see the hitchhiker standing over her, re-attacking her again for the final blow. The hitchhiker wasn't there, it had vanished again. For some reason though, Everest felt it didn't do it voluntarily. The flare that was fired was still burning, giving off a bright red glow. The glow illuminated the smoke trail it had produced when it had roared through the air. She followed the trail back to it's source.

The silhouette of a figure was there, it resembled something like a dog. It was bathed in light originating from behind it, a tool was in each paw. One she could see was a flashlight, the other a flare gun. It was difficult to make out more than that, partly because the figure was shining the light from the flashlight in her eyes, further obstructing her sight.

 _"I have entered your dream to teach you. The Dark Presence is sleeping now, when it feels you, Poet, and everyone else coming it will wake up."_

"Wha- what?"

 _"I don't have much time, I can only show you the most important thing."_ As that was said, the beam of light was lowered, then the flashlight was drawn back, before the figure tossed it to Everest.

 _"Here take a light,"_ it said. Everest caught it, along with two extra batteries. Then she paid more attention to voice that was being spoken. It had a feel of urgency in it, but voice itself felt familiar. His silhouette was still too blurry to fully make out his shape however, meaning his identity was unknown.

 _"The hitchhiker has been taken over by the Dark Presence. You can't hurt him now. The Darkness protects him from all harm. Only light can burn off the shadows and make him vulnerable again. Remember, he can't be saved; he's still a threat, he is still your enemy. I destroyed one of them, there are countless more. Burn off the shadows, and then strike. Stay in the light, trust_ no one _in the shadows. That is all, I will give you back your dream now."_

With that, the light faded, and the figure disappeared. Everest ran over to where he had been standing, wanting to know more from this figure that seemed to know what was going on. But he was gone, there weren't even any pawprints on the ground.

She turned back to the lighthouse, flashlight in paw, and continued her trek down the dark path.

…

Everest finally made it to the pier, from there it was a straight path to the lighthouse. She was so close; once more she allowed a smile to creep onto her face.

" _ **DIIIEEEE!"**_

Everest whirled around and her eyes widened in absolute horror. An eighth of a mile away down the road behind her stood the hitchhiker. This time she could actually see his eyes. They were glowing a poisonous yellow. Then it lifted its arms into the air, and the ground erupted around him as another tornado formed seemingly out of nowhere. This one was bigger and more powerful than the previous one, Everest could feel it tugging at her fir. She turned and ran, heading straight toward the lighthouse. To her right, a huge rock slammed into the top of the pier, tearing a huge hole in it.

"Woh!" Everest screamed before another came down behind her to the left. "Yikes!"

Trees, rocks, and even parts of the pier itself were torn up out of the ground. They rained all around Everest as she made her final mad dash to her target.

She made it off the pier and onto the small island where the lighthouse stood. In one last push, Everest breached the door to the building. She slammed it shut, and ran around the corner. She heard the tornado scream, the light the lighthouse blowing it away.

Everest sighed in relief. And she realized then something incredible. She was alive.

With a smile on her face, she rounded the next corner of the building and stood under the stairwell. It was a grated stairwell, so the light from directly above shined down with ease. After the ordeal she had just been through, Everest felt like crying.

But before she could, the light from the lighthouse flickered and dimmed. Then the light went dark. She couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. For a moment there was nothing, then the darkness that had been chasing her rushed down and buried her in itself.

Everest screamed until she had no scream left. The darkness swirling around her was alive, it seeped into every nook and cranny on her body, it flowed like a river all around her.

A quiet voice could be heard, this one was familiar, and the one behind it had a touch of glee in it's voice, but it way too sinister to be friendly. In a quiet whisper it said: "They're here."

 _ **Author's note from ashipnerd: well guys, this is the longest single chapter I have ever written. This thing is over 4,000 words long!**_


	3. Chapter 1

**Poet or Bandit has hit 6,000 views! Yeah!**

 **Responding to your reviews.**

 **Del Pup said:**

 **Really spooky. Very well written as always I like the way it pulls you in. Poor Everest had a very bad nightmare and is either going to wake up covered in sweat and may have wet herself or she is dead. You are a great writer. Please don't let the haters or trills bad guest affect you.**

Aww, thank you for the compliments! And don't worry, I won't.

 **Guest said:**

 **You're writing a novel? What a fucking joke that is. Every freaking moron writer here is doing that. Look you're a talentless, attention seeking fucktard. Fuck off and do something useful like take an overdose.**

 **And:**

 **Wish you'd fucking die.**

Right back at you! ;)

Do be aware that any and all guest hate reviews will be deleted within a short time of them being posted.

 **Zuma lover said:**

 **Oh boy this is getting to be boring now. Where's the sex?**

 **And:**

 **Hmm this is interesting can't wait to read more. Will the dogs have gay sex? Which ones? Can't wait.**

 **And:**

 **Where's the gay sex? Too long a chapter without gay sex.**

Ummm… there won't be any gay pairings in this story, nor lemons. Sorry to disappoint you. Those aren't my thing.

 **Now, onto Chapter 1!**

"Everest, wake up."

 _GASP_

Consciousness came rushing back to Everest like a freight train as she was ripped from her nightmare. Her eyes shot open wide and she was instantly up and alert, awakened by the sound of Poet's voice. Everest was covered head to tail in a cold sweat, and was hyperventilating. She calmed down once she realized she was in a lit room, specifically her pup house. Poet and Everest had decided to share it while they all were away on vacation.

"Shhhh, Everest, just another nightmare, everything's fine," Poet reassured her.

Everest sighed. "Yeah, and just when their frequency had dropped to three times a week."

Poet offered her a warm smile. "Cheer up Everest. We're here," he said his reassurance not slipping in the slightest. Everest offered her own smile, and they walked out together. The Paw Patroller was cruising through the forest before the early morning sun rose above the horizon. They were making good time.

Everest looked out the window to see the scenery, and to take her mind off the nightmare. But looking out the window wasn't enough of a distraction. The nightmare was still fresh in her mind, she could recall each detail of it vividly. It was strange, every single one of her dreams before, even her most terrifying nightmares, had all vanished from her memory just moments after waking up.

But not this one.

She shook her head. It was just a stupid nightmare, but it felt so real… She stopped herself from going any farther down that road. This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, she would not allow a bad dream to ruin it. Looking back out the window, she saw the forest creep to a standstill, and only realized then that they had stopped in the middle of the road.

The door to the Paw Patroller opened as Ryder and Jake walked out. Everest leaned her head out the door to see what was going on. In front of them were two cars. One was a police car, the other had skid marks under it and was facing sideways. Everest rose an eyebrow.

"What happened here officer?" She heard Jake ask.

"Some guy ran off the road up here, probably a dear. Be careful down this next stretch of road."

"Ok, thanks," Jake said as they turned around and returned to the Patroller. The two climbed back on board, and the vehicle started off again. As they passed the wreck, Everest looked out the window, and saw the inside of the car. The headlights were off, and so were the interior lights. No one was in inside, but the car couldn't have crashed here itself.

So where was the driver?

She shook her head. Her nightmare must be making her paranoid. She turned away from the window, and decided to listen to some music. She turned on the radio.

"And here's one that locals should know. 'War', by the Anderson Brothers, and of course, the unknown writer of the Lyrics." The music began, it started with quiet guitar strings. The tone didn't change even after the singing started.

The singer was asking if someone could recall what happened. Before describing lost chances, then in the chorus it described how the singer thought he was alone, but who he was singing to had been there the whole time. In the next verse, the singer was saying that they needed to move on, then the chorus was played. The next verse talked about lies, and that they were too late. Then it talked about addiction, the singer asked for who he was talking about to show their real face, and that he only needed their name to continue. The chorus played twice, then the song ended.

It wasn't a bad song to Everest.

Sometime during the song, Poet had sat down next to her. When she turned to him to ask what he thought, she saw that he was almost crying.

…

Dawn. A beautiful word and time of the day. Everyone at some point in their lives has woken up early enough to see the sunrise, weather on purpose or accident. Everest had come to enjoy this time of day.

Especially from where she was standing now. Poet had asked to stop at a place called "Sunrise Point". Now they stood at the railing as the sun pulled itself over the horizon. The way the sun was positioned between two mountains, and the light it gave off; to call it breathtaking would not be good enough.

"Wow," was the only word that they all said that could describe its beauty.

When they stopped here again after they left to go home, Everest decided that it would be the perfect time to tell him.

Beside her, Everest heard Poet sigh and a frown crawled onto his lips. Everest's eyebrow rose.

"What's wrong Poet?" she asked.

"Sigh, it's nothing really… Well, actually, my mother used to take us here every Sunday morning. This was our favorite place to be, especially when times were hard on us. Which was actually pretty common."

"What was your mother like?"

"She was one of the only ones that supported me when I was a pup. I never exactly had a father figure, and no one really wanted to be my friend. I nearly lost my sanity after her fate."

Everest didn't reply, she knew better than to do so. Poet tried to hide it, but she could tell he was still facing some inner demons. It was times like this where she knew that Poet just needed a moment, then a distraction to make him feel better. So, Everest looked back to the rising sun and smiled once more.

"It is a beautiful sunrise," she said.

"Yes it is," Poet replied with a smile on his face. He relished the sunrise, its warmth, light and beauty. As he knew, it would be a long dark wait before he could see it again.

They were both so caught up with the sunrise that they didn't take notice of the dog standing nearby at the railing, looking at them. He wore a cap and a hiking suit. "We'll see who get's the last smile," he muttered quietly.

…

The plan was for the Paw Patrol to rent a cabin. But first they needed to talk to the landlord to get the keys, along with gathering other supplies before they settled in.

Stopping just outside the building with a neon sign that read " _DINER_ ", Everest and Poet walked out. The rest of the Paw patrol in the Paw Patroller continued down the road in search for a convenience store.

Poet turned to Everest and said: "I'm going to go use the bathroom around the corner at the gas station. Everything's all set up, you just gotta go grab the key from the landlord. A Mr. Carl Hefty. Oh, and Everest; thank you for coming here with me."

Everest smiled. "This place is amazing Poet, I should thank you for suggesting we come here. Now go on, I promise to behave."

Poet returned the smile before turning around walking to the gas station. Everest then turned to the door, and walked inside. A bell rang as she entered, and a golden retriever who wore a waitress uniform at the counter responded cheerily: "Welcome to the 'O-Deer Diner'."

"Hi, I was wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for-"

"Everest… you're Everest from the Paw Patrol! Oh my gosh, I'm a huge fan!" the dog exclaimed with her tail wagging, drawing the attention of those in the room.

"Umm, ok, I'm glad to hear that Ms…"

"...Rose," she finished after Everest trailed off at the lack of a name.

"Uhh, Rose, I was wondering if you knew where Carl Hefty was."

"Oh, of course. He must have gone to use the restroom, he should be out in a minute."

Everest rose an eyebrow at that, but made no comment.

She walked past the counter and passed a dog sitting on a stool. He was wearing a park ranger outfit, and looked down at Everest.

"Try the coffee," he said. "Just don't blame me when you fall in love, cus it'll break your heart when you have to leave."

"Rusty here is no longer a labrador," Rose said to Everest. "Nothing but black coffee under a thin layer of skin."

Everest chuckled. "I know the feeling," she said to Rose, before continuing her trek to the back of the diner where the restrooms were.

"Why hello there!" A man said to her as she walked past his table. He appeared to be in his late forties, or early fifties. He had a kind, aged smile. "You've picked a great time to visit our town. Deer Fest is just two weeks away. I'm Pat Mane by the way. And I'm a bit of fan too. I hope this isn't to, presumptuous, of me; but I'm the night host of the local radio and, is there any chance I could get an interview?"

Everest sighed. "Look, Mr. Mane, the Paw Patrol and I on vacation. I actually would prefer it if you keep our being here between us."

"Very well, you can trust me to be discrete. I'm not a hard man to track down if you change your mind though."

"Thanks," she said before continuing on her way. As she approached the back of the restaurant, a man wearing a leather jacket turned to her. He appeared to be somewhere in his thirties or forties, and wore an eyepatch. "Do me a favor hunny! I could really go for a tune right now. Coconut, number six in the jukebox," he said pointing at the said contraption.

His companion sitting at the same booth, and had a similar appearance without an eyepatch said: "Are you kidding me? Coconut again? You disgust me, call yourself a rocker."

Everest walked up to the jukebox and pressed number six. The disks rotated around before the right one slid into place and the music began.

"Yes! Coconut!"

"This is it, I've died and gone to hell."

Everest's eyebrow had already raised, and she looked at Rusty who gave her an apologetic look. "The Anderson brothers. They're… local musicians. We're waiting for Dr. Hartman to come pick them up, they wandered off of his clinic at Cauldron Lake Lodge."

Everest nodded, then continued on her way to the back of the room. The sign for the restrooms was posted over the entrance to a hallway. A older female husky was standing next the entrance, and she wore a lantern like a collar around her neck.

Everest looked down the hallway, the light closest to the entrance was flickering, the others all the way down the hall were dark. The hall looked much longer than it was. Taking a deep breath, she began her trek into the dark hall.

"Don't go in there," said the dog wierialy. "You could hurt yourself in the dark."

"I… think I can handle it ma'am," Everest responded. She didn't like the dark, but she didn't want to wait, she just wanted to get the keys and get out. Ignoring her nerves, she continued on her way. The door to the men's restroom was at the end of the hallway, and down the hall to the left from it was the emergency exit.

Arriving at the door to the restroom, Everest knocked to see if anyone was inside. "Hello?" she called out before knocking again. "Mr. Hefty?" There was no answer.

"Carl couldn't make it today..." said a new dog that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Everest snapped her head around to the left to look at her. She was standing by the emergency exit, and seemed to be wearing a funeral gown, a very odd choice of clothing to wear for a husky. "...Unfortunately he was taken ill. But I have the keys for you and instructions on how to get to the lake," the dog said holding out the keys and a map. Everest hesitantly took both.

"Thanks," she said a bit creeped out by this dog.

"I wish you a good stay at my cabin. I'll come by later to check how you've been settling in. And to meet Poet." Everest looked up at the dog, surprised. Poet was still not well known as a member of the Paw patrol, but then again, it had been Poet and Ryder that had set up the vacation. She probably knew him from there, if she was Carl's pet or assistant.

"I insist," the dog finished leaning forward slightly.

"Thanks," Everest said once again. Then she turned and walked back down the hall. She passed the older husky with the lamp who then said to her: "You were lucky this time, you can hurt yourself in the dark." The last thing Everest heard the husky go on about was how she needed to remind Sarah to change the lights at the station before Everest was out of earshot.

She passed the booth the Anderson brothers were still sitting at. She noticed the one with the eyepatch was asleep, and could tell by his snores.

"Even that sounds better than your singing," the other one muttered.

Everest shook her head. Not wanting further contact with anyone in the diner, as it was giving her a headache, she continued to avoid eye contact until she made it to the door.

"Bye Everest!" Rose called out as she left. Poet was waiting just outside for her, and together they walked to the street to wait for the Paw Patroller to come back.

"Mission accomplished," she said to him. "Keys, and the directions."

"My hero," he responded. "I got everyone some flashlights, just incase." He said giving one to her as the Paw Patroller pulled up. The door opened and they both climbed aboard. Following the directions given to them, they set off for the lake.

As they pulled away, a slightly obese man that wore the name 'Hefty' on his shirt stumbled out of the diner. "Hey wait!" he called out to the Paw Patrol who were too far to hear him. "Ms. Everest! You- your keys," he said before realising they were too far away, holding up the keys to the cabin they had rented.

…

The twisting and winding roads that lead to the lake were not the best suited for a large vehicle like the Paw Patroller. They had to backtrack and park it in a secure location. The pups were now driving in their individual vehicles to the lake.

It wasn't long before they arrived. They all parked and got out of their vehicles. They all could see the cabin, it was on an island, a wooden foot bridge connected it to the mainland. A sign was placed beside the bridge, it read: CREATOR'S ISLE.

"I know this place," Poet said quietly. Everest turned to him.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"This was my family's cabin. I didn't even know this place was still here," he said quietly.

"You used to live here?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, I wonder if everything is still as I remember it."

…

The sun was setting, and the lights were glowing inside the cabin. Poet walked back inside from his walk around the small island. The view had been incredible, and it was good to be back at his old home.

"Everest?" he called out.

"I'm upstairs Poet! Come up here, I have a surprise for you!"

Poet chuckled to himself. He walked up the staircase to the upper floor. To his right was the master bedroom, the door was open so he walked inside. In front of him, on the queensized bed, was Everest; who was taking off her uniform, in front of him. He blinked once as Everest pulled the rest of her uniform off over her head.

Poet just so happened to get a look at her tail as she did.

As the piece of clothing was lifted off her head, her eyes were revealed. They were looking right at him, and there was a smile on her face. Poet snapped out of it.

"Why hello," he said seductively. Everest rolled her eyes, he had to be the only one who she would allow to get away that. "I'm not the surprise, it's in the study; go take a look."

Poet looked at her a bit weirdly. "Ok," he said. Turning around, he headed for the door on the other side of the stairs. He opened the door, and walked inside. Nothing seemed to be different, except for the typewriter sitting on the table.

Wait what?

Poet blinked, in front of him, on the table, was a well preserved typewriter. It looked brand new, and even had a stack of paper beside it.

"Surprise!" Everest said a bit nervously.

"Everest, what is this?" he said as he brushed his paws across the keys.

"I guess I have a small confession to make. I thought that maybe you could write here, whenever you talk about writing you say you're going to begin working on your book 'Arrival', but you haven't even started it yet." Everest bit her lip, Poet had been known to be very touchy about his writing. She hoped he wouldn't be upset because of it.

She didn't expect the response she got.

"Everest… I don't know what to say, other than I feel it's kind of ironic. I also have a confession to make." He turned to face her, and Everest could tell he was nervous. "I've, set up an appointment with a local doctor here. His name is Dr. Hartman, we… knew each other a while ago. He has a clinic up at Cauldron Lake Lodge. He helps patients who have gone through supernatural experiences. I thought that maybe-"

"Damn it Poet!" He stopped and his eyes widened at Everest's sudden outburst. Despite the shock, he knew where this was going, Everest had started to become more unstable recently. She had started to get aggressive as of late. He needed to defuse the situation before it got out of paw. "You- Everyone keeps-"

"Hey, whoa whoa, calm down. You haven't been yourself recently, you need help Everest."

"So now you want to get me committed?!"

"No, no it's not like that Evere…" he paused as the lights darkened and flickered. But Everest was overcome with anger, she didn't even notice. "Um, Everest."

"I-" the lights came back on as she opened her eyes. "I- Don't want to hear it! God, Damn it Poet!" She ran past him back into the bedroom, locking the door behind her. Three seconds later, Poet knocked on the door, begging Everest to come back out, or to let him in. She was lying on the bed sobbing. He could hear her through the closed door.

They had never had a serious fight, not until now. The fact that it would happen today, right now, hurt worse than any physical pain either had ever been in. The worst part was, Everest had cursed. Everest had never cursed in her life before now, and the fact that Poet had been the cause made it all the more painful for him.

Poet stopped knocking on the door, and had headed downstairs with tears flowing out of his eyes. Once again it felt like his heart had been torn out, stomped on, then spat on. Leaving him empty. This time it was worse, his heart had still been healing, and now the damage was even more distressing.

Everest was curled up in a ball on the bed, tears pouring from her eyes. She was no longer upset with what Poet had said at this point, she was upset at herself for losing control. It wasn't just her fear that had influenced her mood swings, there was something else. She didn't know how to tell him though.

And she had cursed. She never cursed. Never. And the fact she cursed at Poet only felt like rubbing salt in the wound. What was she going to do?

It took a while, but she finally calmed down enough to begin to think again. It was doubtful Poet would want to see her again tonight, she would wait until morning and then apologize.

Curling up under the blankets, she slowly fell asleep, thinking about what she would say to Poet tomorrow morning.

…

 _BOOM._

Everest awoke at midnight, as the room suddenly lurched. The cabin was dark, that combined with the shaking of the room and the roaring of whatever was going on terrified Everest to her core. The room lurched again, and the shaking continued.

She could hear screams, below her the Paw Patrol must be trying to get off the island. She was frozen in place, she couldn't move. She heard someone calling out her name, it sounded like Poet. Outside she could hear splashes, the rushing of water.

Then a window broke, something flooded the room, and Everest was thrown against the wall. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the form of a husky rushing into the room.

Then the world went black.

 **To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 2

**CStarLam said:**

 **Just for a reminder, do you mean "Arrival" instead of "Arival" for the title? Is it a spelling mistake? Also, the chapter was awesome! I wonder what happened to the cabin. Can't wait for more!**

Thanks for letting me know, it's fixed now.

Zuma Lover said:

 **Ok so no gay sex then ok. Does Steven King does love movies if Marshall fines Everest? I mean Steven King does really dark movies. Will Jake and the Paw Patrol finds her?**

Errr, what? Sorry that's just a bit hard to read. "Does Steven King does love movies if Marshall finds Everest?" There won't be any romantic MarshallxEverest unfortunately. They are my favorite pairing however. Also if you are asking if this is like a Steven King book than the answer is yes-ish. I won't answer that last one for the sake of spoilers.

Malcolmyoung said:

 **Pls after reading some comets pl and I will say again PLEASE do not put gay sex in this story!**

 **I support gays my aunts are gay bUT I still I cant imagine gay sex it disturbs me I'm fine with normal strait sex but not gay! Thank you**

Don't worry, there won't be any in this story.

Now that that's **taken** care of:

Chapter 2

Her eyes shot open. Everest had expected to see darkness, but not the natural darkness of nighttime which she was currently exposed to. Voices echoed in her mind as she became more aware of her surroundings. The voices faded quickly, and she took notice of where she was.

She was in the driver's seat of her snowmobile, or what was left of it. The vehicle was a wreck; the treds had snapped, the body was dented and crushed, one headlight was broken, the other was flickering. The totaled vehicle was at the edge of a cliff as well, far off where the road was.

She groaned and brought a paw up to her head, only to immediately jerk it away. She looked at it, and saw there was blood on it. She must have hit her head when she crashed. Waking up in the crashed snowmobile felt to her like waking up from one nightmare and entering another. She couldn't remember how she got there, all she knew was that something terrible had happened to the Paw Patrol while they were in the cabin.

Coming to the realization she wasn't getting anywhere just by sitting there, she tried to crawl out to her left. As she pulled herself over the side, she slipped and fell. An 'oof' and a groan followed as she hit the ground.

She got off the ground and up to her paws. Her first instinct was to get help of some kind. First reaction to that was to contact Ryder. She clicked her pup tag.

"Everest to-" she stopped as she realized her pup tag did nothing. She clicked it again only to get no reaction. Her pup tag's battery was dead. She would have to find help on foot.

She reached back to one of the pockets on her uniform, only to remember that she had taken it off. Why did she have the uniform on now? She shook that fact off and attempted to withdraw the flashlight Poet had given her. She felt three pieces of something in the pocket. When she pulled them out, they were revealed to be the broken remains of the flashlight.

She sighed. Could the night get any worse?

Walking around her vehicle, she headed down a pathway that wrapped around the crevasse that her vehicle was hanging off of. In the distance, she could see a road and the lights of a gas station. That was her best bet, they would have a phone she could use. It looked like a long hike through the forest to get there.

She knew where she needed to go, now all she had to do was get there. "Ice or snow I'm ready to go!" she said to herself. She loved saying that. She missed saying that. It had been weeks since she had been called out on a mission, especially after what happened with that hitchhiker. So to say her catchphrase again gave her courage and strength.

Now all she had to do was get through the forest.

…

As Everest approached the forest, she saw a glow from somewhere in the trees. "Hello? Is someone there?" She called out. "Please, I've been in an accident!"

Everest walked toward the bright glow. In the dark of the forest it was impossible to miss. The light was pure, white, and it felt welcoming in the sinister atmosphere around her. She approached the light quickly, covering her eyes with a paw.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She called out toward the light as it faded. It wasn't long before it vanished, but in its place two pieces of paper, still glowing lightly, floated down to the ground.

She walked over and picked them up, and was shocked by what was written. They were typewritten pages to a manuscript entitled Arrival. Poet had been named the author. If her memory had served her correctly, that was the title to the book Poet was going to create but never had gotten started.

The first page held only the title and author name. The second page however, was much more sinister.

 _The man pulled the ax out of the body, making an audible noise as he did. "_ _ **In Bright Falls!**_ "

" _What the…" she said quietly._

" _ **Carl, Hefty. Pleased to meet You.**_ " _It said in a voice she had only heard in her nightmare. It was speaking random things that the man would have once said. "_ _ **Non-refundable reservations in the Bright Falls area. Fair and square**_ _."_

 _Then with inhuman speed, he charged into the lumber yard, vanishing behind equipment and stacks of logs. All the while his voice continued to spout random sentences, the pitch of his voice going deep and high at random intervals._

Everest blinked once.

She had no idea what was going on, only that she had found a page and it described some creepy, psychopathic man and some unknown girl. Bright Falls was the name of the city that they were at. It was where the vacation had been planned, and where they were. So what was this about?

…

Everest continued through the forest. It was thick, pines were everywhere, and the atmosphere just kept getting creepier by the second. Pretty soon, she reached a clearing. It revealed a log sight, a place where trees would be cut down for lumber, before being sold.

Lumber was a huge part of Michigan's economy, so it made sense she would run into one in a forest outside of a small town. She noticed the lights from one of the trailers was on. That was a good sign for her, maybe she wouldn't have to hike all the way through the forest to find a phone?

She noticed a tree had fallen, and part of the tall fence was down because of it. It was doubtful she would be able to climb the fence, so she crawled up the tree, and dropped down on the other side of the fence.

"Is anyone there?!" she called out. "Please! I've been in an accident!" Nothing but silence responded to her calls. She began looking around the site, walking between stacks of logs and equipment.

Then she noticed a man standing at the end of the space between two stacks of logs. He had an ax in his hand, the blade had impaled something on the ground. From where she was, Everest shrugged it off as a log of some kind.

"Hey, hey you!" she called out to him, running between the two stacks of logs toward him. The man was muttering something quietly, but Everest couldn't tell what it was. "Please, I've…" she stopped dead in her tracks. It was only then she realized that the log the ax had impaled, wasn't a log.

It was a body. The form of the man who wielded the ax was fully revealed. His body was covered in shadows, they traced around his body and bled off of it. Everest was frozen in shock and fear.

The man pulled the ax out of the body, making an audible noise as he did. " **In Bright Falls!** "

"What the…" she said quietly.

" **Carl, Hefty. Pleased to meet You.** " It said in a voice she had only heard in her nightmare. It was speaking random things that the man would have once said. " **Non-refundable reservations in the Bright Falls area. Fair and square.** "

Then with inhuman speed, he charged into the lumber yard, vanishing behind equipment and stacks of logs. All the while his voice continued to spout random sentences, the pitch of his voice going deep and high at random intervals.

" **Fair and square."**

Everest's eyes opened wide in horror and shock. She reached back and withdrew the page she had picked up. It read:

 _The man pulled the ax out of the body, making an audible noise as he did. "_ _ **In Bright Falls!**_ "

" _What the…" she said quietly._

" _ **Carl, Hefty. Pleased to meet You.**_ " _It said in a voice she had only heard in her nightmare. It was speaking random things that the man would have once said. "_ _ **Non-refundable reservations in the Bright Falls area. Fair and square**_ _."_

 _Then with inhuman speed, he charged into the lumber yard, vanishing behind equipment and stacks of logs. All the while his voice continued to spout random sentences, the pitch of his voice going deep and high at random intervals._

That had just happened.

Countless questions ran through Everest's head. Too many to quote, too many to remember.

She shook her head, she needed to snap out of it and keep going. Around the corner, in the same direction the man had run, was the trailer she had seen with the lights on. Maybe she could get there and call for help?

It was her best shot.

She ran quickly between the stacks of pine logs arranged like a maze. The trailer was in sight, but as she approached she heard the voice again.

" **You fail to arrive, you lose the Deposit!"**

She felt the ground shake as Hefty charged after her, running at full sprint with ax in hand. Everest didn't even look back, she just ran. She jumped up the stairs and into the lit interior of the trailer, slamming the door behind her.

" **In Bright Falls!"** Hefty said as he drove the blade of his ax into the wooden door, piercing it. The ax was pulled out, and Everest glanced around the trailer for anything useful, like something to defend herself with.

Her gaze rested on the gun and flashlight placed on the table. She ran over to them, picking the gun up first. To her knowledge, she had never fired a gun before. The semi-automatic revolver she had picked up was heavier than she expected. At the same time however, to her surprise, it felt comfortable in her grip, almost as if she _had_ used it before.

She put the gun in a pouch in her uniform, along with two extra cases of ammo for it. It gave her a grand total of eighteen bullets. Six in the gun, twelve on backup. She then turned her attention to the flashlight, picking it up. Having used plenty of flashlights before, it was as heavy as she expected it to be. But it also felt too comfortable in her paw.

She had to get out of there, at any minute Hefty would be knocking on the door with his ax like Nicolson in 'The Shining'. On the table by the window, was a cord phone. Everest ran over to it, dialing 911.

"Yes!" she said quietly as the phone hummed as a sign it was working. A few seconds later, the line was answered. A tired voice was on the other side.

"Bright Falls sheriff's station, how can I-" The line went dead.

"Hello? Hello!?" Everest tried only to see the telephone line outside come down. Then the roar of a diesel engine met her ears. Outside, she saw a forklift charge at the trailer.

The forklift rammed the side of the trailer, killing all the power and causing the trailer to begin sliding toward the edge of a crevasse. The side she had entered from leaned downward as it began to slide off the cliff face. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize she had to get out of there.

Her only hope, she realized, was the door that had broken open from the impact. She ran for it, the floor becoming steeper like the deck of the Titanic, but this wasn't where Jack and Rose had met. The trailer began to slide down the side of the cliff, and just as the back was about to fall off, Everest jumped out the door.

The trailer slid down the cliff, and crashed with a sickening crunch, the wood splintering on impact. Everest took deep breaths, the trailer had just gone over the edge, and she hoped Mr. Hefty had gone down with it.

She decided not to stand there and find out however. She turned around and approached another structure. There was a large battery powered light sitting in the middle of the path. She was puzzled, why would it be here?

She turned the light on, not sure as to what was going on. Then a dark figure passed in front of her, into the light. There was a quiet screaming like noise, and the shadows around it burned right off. Its eyes glowed a poisonous yellow, and had a terrifying aura around it.

Everest's eyes opened wide, withdrawing the pistol from her pocket. The creature began to walk over to her, a hammer was in it hand. It sped up, approaching at a quicker pase. Raising the hammer prematurely, it prepared to bring it down on the terrified husky.

"Stop!" Everest called out to it, gun pointing at the figure. It kept coming at her. She paused for a moment in consideration that she was about to shoot someone, the doubt vanished as the hammer was brought down. Closing her eyes as to not see the result, Everest pulled the trigger.

 _ ***BANG***_

The somehow familiar sound of a gunshot rang through the air, and echoed through the forest. There was a grunt, and Everest opened her eyes. They went wide in reaction to what she saw. The figure wasn't fazed at all, being shot had done practically nothing. It rose the hammer again to strike, and Everest panic fired again.

 _ ***BANG* *BANG***_

Those shots knocked it back, but once more it began to approach the pup. With eyes wide open, Everest fired one more desperate shot.

 _ ***BANG***_

The bullet hit the body, and the body seemingly disintegrated this time on impact. There was a flash of yellow, a black outline of the body fell to the ground before dissipating, then there was silence. It wasn't a comforting silence. The silence was cold, the atmosphere even more hair-raising than before; and now Everest had just killed someone, or something. There was no body, no trace that it had even existed besides the footprints on the ground that it had left behind.

Shaking, Everest looked back at the light, then to where it was shining. That's when she noticed something. On one of the supports of a nearby shack, an arrow was pointing inside the door of said shack. The arrow was yellow, and was being illuminated by the glow of the battery powered light.

So naturally, being the curious pup she was, she walked over to it. The door was open, and the room was dark. She put her gun back in one of her pockets, and pulled out her flashlight. She clicked it on, a pure white beam of light shone from it and illuminated the ground.

She walked inside the shed, another arrow glowed yellow as Everest cast her light on it. The arrow was pointing around the corner, behind some equipment. She walked behind it, and shone her light on the wall. Eerie painted graffiti was revealed by the flashlight, it was a strange symbol. It glowed the same way the arrows did, but this symbol was a painted flaming torch surrounded by a eighty percent complete circle.

Below it was a metal chest. Everest walked over to it, and opened it. She blinked in surprise. Inside of the chest was a flare gun. A orange flare gun, like the kind you could buy at a place like walmart. She picked it up, opening the break action mechanism to check if it was loaded.

It was. There were no other flares however, so she had only one shot. But she figured if she was heading back into the dark forest, it would be best to have at least one flare incase she got lost. She walked out of the shed, heading back in the direction that she knew the gas station was at.

She was back to plan A. But that wasn't a problem. She just needed to get there, and it should only take her a half hour if she moved quickly. So she resumed her journey into the forest.

Not long after, she saw a peculiar sight. There was a red emergency box, attached to a wooden post. It was just standing there, open for anyone to find it. Everest shrugged. Now was as much of an emergency as it would probably get. She opened the red box, but was surprised at the contents.

Inside was another pack of ammunition for her revolver, and two packs of batteries for the flashlight. She now had twenty bullets, and six extra batteries. She pondered for a moment who would put ammo for a .44 gun in an emergency box. Compared to how weird this night was getting however, it was a six on the 'Everest weird stuff ometer'.

As she turned to continue on her way, she noticed the weather around her. The trees began to sway in a sudden wind that appeared out of nowhere. The sky darkened, the stars beginning to grow dimmer and dimmer. The hair on the back of Everest's neck rose, and a chill ran down her spine.

With her flashlight still in paw, she scanned the trees nearby for any sign of danger, the atmosphere growing darker. The tension was broken as another figure emerged from the shadows, then another. One figure held a sledgehammer, the other held a sickle.

No natural path had brought them here.

Everest brought the gun back out and up to bare, firing the last two rounds from it. The bullets hit their targets, and the figures stumbled back. But then they continued walking forward toward her, unfazed. Everest shone her flashlight on them, hearing the same screaming noise she had heard from the previous figure.

She gripped the flashlight tightly, keeping the light on the two figures. She was terrified, and willed with all her being for the figures to stop advancing toward her. Then suddenly something gave, and the light seemed to shine brighter. All the light that dimmed at the edge of the outer ring bent into a narrow cone. Grouping together to form an intense bright beacon.

The bright light shined heavily on the figure with the sledgehammer. It stumbled back, covering its eyes with one of its arms. The shadows surrounding it burned off quickly, with one final flash the remaining shadows vaporized. For some reason, the words from her dream came back to her. Burn of the shadows, and then strike.

She pointed the gun back at the figure, only for it to click. The gun was empty. Quickly, still in a panicked state, she reached back into her pocket and withdrew an unknown number of bullets. She opened the casing, attempting to insert the bullets into it. Her mind was in a panic, only instinct allowed the bullets to enter the empty casing.

The three bullets she had withdrawn were now loaded, and she wasted no time firing the gun. The target had moved closer, and she almost didn't have to aim.

 ** _*BANG* *BANG*_**

The rounds struck home, and the body disappeared. Everest's panic subsided for a moment, then resurfaced as the sickle in the remaining figure's hand slashed across her side. Everest screamed in a cold pain and whirled around, shining the light right in the figure's face. It stumbled back in a burning pain.

Then suddenly, the flashlight Everest held flickered and went out. She hadden't noticed before, but the focused light the flashlight gave off when she concentrated had dimmed. Now it was dead. The battery was dead.

Panic took hold of her again, she fumbled with her pockets as she attempted to withdraw a fresh battery. She managed to squeeze one free from her pockets, only for it to fall out onto the ground. The figure approached, raising its sickle for the finishing blow.

Paws shaking in the midst of a panicked mind, Everest finally grasped the battery. Without thinking, she opened the back of the flashlight and the dead battery slid out like an empty magazine from a 9mm. Then she jammed the fresh battery into the empty light, and clicked it back on.

The figure once more stumbled back, the focused light shined right in its face and it coldly burned the shadows off its body. The sickle in its grasp jerked back along with it, taking a few strands of fir from Everest's coat off with it.

 _ ***BANG* *CLICK***_

The figure was knocked onto its back with the gunshot fired so close to it. Still in a panicked state, Everest pulled out one more bullet quickly. She opened the chamber and loaded it as the figure got back up to its feet. With one more pull of the trigger, the figure was gone.

For a moment Everest didn't move. Her mind was having a hard time understanding what the heck was going on. Taking deep excited breaths through her mouth, she began to calm down. She suddenly felt the pain from the gash in her side, the adrenaline in her system fading.

She began to walk forward, not sure of where she should go. Soon however, the pain became unbearable, and she could no longer take a single step. She shut her eyes tightly, only to reopen them as a bright light suddenly appeared.

 _"Follow the light,"_ she heard a voice that came from the general direction of the light. It was gentle, but had a touch of urgency mixed in. _"You are hurt, you should go into the light. You are only safe there."_

In front of her, an overhanging light turned on, illuminating the ground. She limped toward it. It hurt. It hurt to walk forward, but she knew she had to get to the light. Once she entered it, she fell on her unhurt side, groaning in pain and exhaustion. Then something physically impossible happened.

The pain in her side began to disappear.

She looked over to her side, eyes widening as she saw the gash in it begin to close all on its own. Soon it healed, and even her uniform sealed over it. As soon as it did, the pain vanished. She put a paw to her side where the cut was. The fabric felt brand new, and so was the skin and fur beneath it. Her eye twitched, something really strange was going on. Did she have weird super powers now or something?

 _"I have something important to tell you, it goes like this. 'For he did not know that beyond the lake that he called home, lies a deeper darker ocean green, who's waves are both wilder and more serene. To its ports I've been, to its ports I've been.' Do you understand?"_

Everest looked back up to the voice. "No," she replied. "Who are you?" she asked.

 _"A friend."_

"Kind of a weird friend."

The voice chuckled at that. _"Yes, but still a friend."_

"Listen, what's going on? Where's the Paw Patrol? Where's Poet? Where's Jake? Who are you?!"

The light faded without warning, before disappearing completely. Another page floated down to the ground beneath where it had been. Everest walked over to it. If it was another page that foretold the future, she could prepare for what was going to happen. Then again, there was the strange light and voice.

Everest had no doubt that they both came from the same being, or whatever he was. The voice was identical to the one that was in her dream however, so part of her believed that she could trust him. But she had to be cautious. He could just be one of those, 'shadow people', that could stand in direct light.

Regardless, these manuscript pages could help her get through the night. So she picked up the page and read it.

 _Jake was growing more worried as the days passed. The Paw Patrol had been working hard all week trying to find a clue to either Everest's or Poet's location. They had found none._

 _It could mean that they drowned, but Jake knew them better than that. Everest could take care of herself, and Poet went without saying. The amount of times the pup had escaped custody before he had become a part of the Paw Patrol was incredible. Even to the point of faking his death, then almost actually dieing._

 _They both were still out there. Jake wouldn't give up, none of them would give up._

Well, that wasn't what she expected. But now at least she knew they were looking for her and Poet. The thought brought a smile to her face, at least she now had some hope.

Where is Poet anyway? Everest thought to herself. He hadn't been in the crash, but hopefully he was safe. Everest turned back to the path and continued on her way toward the gas station.

She reloaded her gun again, now having 16 bullets. She also replaced the battery in her flashlight, she now had 4 extra batteries. It seemed that whenever she focused or boosted her light, the battery would drain at an exceptional rate. So she would have to be careful with how much she used.

She kept walking forward, flashlight shining in the dark of the night. She came across a sign that was placed beside the path. The back side of it was facing her, so she walked to the other side and shined her light on it. It wasn't the fact that it was a sign for the log sight that made her eyebrow raise.

Painted in that invisible paint that her flashlight revealed were the words: The taken are weak in the light.

That's when it hit her. "Taken," she realized. "They're Taken." Now she had the name of what these things were.

Her eyes drifted downward to the page on the ground. She picked it up and read it.

 _As she entered the garage, she saw that the place was trashed. It looked like there had been some kind of fight, or someone had deliberately tried to ransack it. There was an open door at the other end of the room that spilled light from it, and Everest made her way toward it._

 _Suddenly, an old portable tv turned on. Despite the bad picture, she could still make out that it was Poet on the screen. The camera that had recorded or broadcasted the picture appeared to be in the study of the cabin they ad been in. She could hear Poet's voice, it seemed different somehow. It sounded physically less mature, almost like this had been recorded years ago._

 _Poet was talking like a mad dog._

…

The light of the gas station came into view at last. Everest smiled, she was almost there. This was the final stretch, she increased her pase. Suddenly she felt the wind begin to pick up.

The branches of the trees swayed hard as the wind tore through them, the atmosphere around Everest became darker and darker. She looked up and saw the moon and stars begin to dim, their usual luster vanishing. Then she heard an all too familiar voice.

 **"I never touched the salad. A man like me needs a hefty meal to get through the day!"**

Her eyes widened and her pupils shrunk. She whirled around, pointing the flashlight in the general direction of where it came from. There it was. The Taken wore the skin of Carl, the ax was still in its hands.

As she was about to focus her light on him again, he took off into the woods, using the trees for cover. Everest had never seen anything run so fast. It was moving as fast as a bullet, too fast for Everest to catch it. So she resorted to a different strategy.

Run.

She turned and ran as fast as she could down the path toward the station. Halfway there, the Taken was beside her, its ax was above its head and was being brought down. She dove and rolled, dodging the attack. She shined the light from the flashlight into its face and reached to grab her gun.

Her paw swept over the handle of what she thought was the revolver. She pulled it out, aimed at the taken, and pulled the trigger, realizing too late that it was actually the flare gun she fired. The flare shot out and slammed into the Taken, exploding on impact in a bright flash. The flare fell to the ground, pouring a stream of smoke into the air, illuminating the forest around it.

Hefty's body vanished, leaving only countless nightmares to follow.

Everest sat down on the ground, only then realizing she was hyperventilating. After she calmed down, she got back up and walked the rest of the way to the gas station. After the insanity she had just went through, the lights of the station felt welcoming in the dark. She turned and rounded the corner in front of the garage of the station.

She then saw it, there was a sign next to the gas pumps. It was a poster for Deerfest. It said that it was just 7 days away. Everest could remember Pat Mane telling her that Deerfest was 2 weeks away when they had arrived. That meant that a week had passed since they had arrived.

But she couldn't remember anything that took place during that week. Her paw slowly rose back up to her head, and the light amount of blood that had trailed down it. Her paw flinched away, as her head pounded slightly from a concussion.

As she entered the garage, she saw that the place was trashed. It looked like there had been some kind of fight, or someone had deliberately tried to ransac it. There was an open door at the other end of the room that spilled light from it, and Everest made her way toward it.

Suddenly, an old portable tv turned on. Despite the bad picture, she could still make out that it was Poet on the screen. The camera that had recorded or broadcasted the picture appeared to be in the study of the cabin they ad been in. She could hear Poet's voice, it seemed different somehow. The voice sounded physically less mature, almost like this had been recorded years ago.

Poet was talking like a mad dog.

 _"I'll keep writing, outside the cabin, outside the story there is only darkness. If I stop, that darkness will only spread and invade and devour the world I love. But I know I'm close, even now I can smell her pheromones in the room._

 _I'll bring her back. I'll fix it."_

There was the sound of something being fried, and smoke rose from the tv. The tv shut off because of it, and Everest took a step back. Was she going crazy?

She shook her head. This was no time to think about that, she had to call the cops, and get this whole mess sorted out. She walked past the trashed garage, and entered the main room where the groceries and register were located. Beside the register was the phone she had so desired to use all night.

She jumped onto the counter, and dialed the phone.

"Bright Falls sheriff's station, how can I help you?"

…

Sheriff Serah Breaker stepped out of the police cruiser, her hand on her hip gripping the gun just in case. Everest had called just a few minutes ago, she sounded panicked and was obviously disturbed about something. There had been something else off about her voice, but she couldn't quite place what was wrong.

The husky walked out of the station, her breathing was ragged and she was unable to walk in a straight line. "Please, you gotta help me," she said to the officer continuing to walk toward her.

"Whoa, calm down," she told the trembling pup.

"Listen, we were staying in a cabin, on Cauldron lake-"

"There is no island on Cauldron lake, it sank to the bottom of the lake three and a half years ago."

Everest stared at the sheriff. That piece of information, plus the events of the night all came crashing down on her. She seemed to lose control of her body, and fell to the ground. The sheriff ran over to her.

"You look like you took a nasty hit to the head, let's go to the station to have you looked at. Your friends are worried about you."

"Please…" Everest tried to speak, but she felt too weak to say anything.

"Look, we'll swing by the lake on our way to the station, all right?"

Everest nodded. To her that sounded like great news, she might be able to talk to Ryder if they were still in the cabin.

"By the way, do you happen to know where Carl Hefty is? He's the guy who runs this place."

Everest looked up at the sheriff, suddenly realizing she couldn't tell her about what had happened. She would think she was crazy, and would probably send her away. She couldn't let that happen. She might never find Poet if that happened.

She'd have to stay quiet.

…

Everest ran to the fence at the cliff by Creator's Isle. As soon as she reached it and gazed out onto the lake, she froze in shock and disbelief. She turned her head to the sheriff, her face still holding that expression.

She looked back at Creator's Isle. The bridge that had connected the island to the mainland was gone. Only part of it that was connected to the mainland remained, and even it lead down into the lake.

The island was gone. Only the waves that were illuminated by the rising sun remained over where it once was. Everest couldn't believe it.

The island was gone.

Poet was gone.

And the worse was still to come.

 **To be continued.**

 **A/N: It's good to be back. Updates will be slow as I can't work as hard on this as my finals are coming up. (I get out of school in May) So please be patient. Please review as it gives me better motivation to work.**

 **Now, review responses.**

Zuma lover said:

You didn't fix the title it's still not right. You need to fix it. There should be gay sex and it should be different here please like Rubble and Marshall. Skye can go with Rocky. Don't be depressed you have readers who review. Get a grip of yourself.

 ***Facepalm* dude, just stop it with the gay sex. And i said that it wasn't the reviews that made me have to take a break. Also, what's wrong with the title? (No, seriously. I suck at spelling. I suck at spelling more than spanish. And I have a D in spanish)**

PawP said:

Take the advice of the dogs and go shoot yourself. You're a worthless piece of shit. No one cares or gives a shit. Fuck off and do something useful like take an overdose if you're too chicken shit to pull a trigger.

 **What dogs? Also, how about you take an overdose and then I'll do it, ok? Until that point, i will stick around.**

Decker The Hunter said:

Dont listen to Zuma lover or this guest.

I was once very depressed so take ad much time as you need.

 **Thanks dude. I won't.**

Malolmyoung said:

Ok that was a good chapter and no_ im sad but I understand I used to cut myself don't do its stupid it doesn't gain you anything I even brought an empty gun to my head once then broke down and cried don't worry I got help and I'm better now…

 **I'm glad you got help. You seem like a great guy. Thanks for the compliment too.**

 **(I won't be responding to some reviews as they are just replies to other reviews.)**


	5. Chapter 3

January 2, 2017

Jake's mountain

Poet shivered as he walked up the steps to the Chalet. It was night time, all the windows had light pouring from them. Outside, the wind was blowing hard around Poet, howling like a wolf or coyote. It carried a bitter chill to it. It was the first storm of the new year, and just had to be a heavy blizzard. It was worse than the first storm that had happened earlier that winter, and Poet should know. He had been out in both. He was glad he didn't have to rescue Everest this time, they had all learned from their mistakes and what happened that day would never happen again.

Poet reached the door and opened it. He was greeted with a blast of heat, and quickly stepped inside to avoid the precious heat from escaping the Chalet. He shut the door and let out a breath of relief. He may be half husky, but that doesn't mean he necessarily _liked_ the cold. He shivered again, then called out to the inhabitants of the Chalet.

"I'm back!"

" _Back here Poet!"_ He heard Everest call back from another room. " _How was it?"_

"Worst weather I've ever seen," he said as he walked over to room.

"You should heat up some hot chocolate, it'll help warm you up! Also, Jake called. He decided to stay down at the Lookout for the night. He didn't want to risk the drive back up."

"He's right, I wouldn't want to step back out into this storm either," Poet said as he walked into the kitchen. Grabbing the coffee pot, he filled it with water and got out a few packs of hot chocolate. He put the pot back in its place and turned on the device. "Hot chocolate's on!" He called out as he walked back to where Everest was.

"Great, I'm going to need it if I want to finish this tonight," Everest said as Poet reached the main room. She was sitting in front of the fireplace, writing in a book. Poet smiled as he saw her. Seeing Everest always would bring a smile to his face, and would always brighten his day. There was no doubt he was in love, and he didn't try to hide it. Everything about her only seemed to want him to win her affection even more. Her eyes were mesmerizing to him. They reminded him so much of-

 _NO! No, no don't think about her, don't go back down that road. You know where that leads. Everest is all that matters now, the past is in the past, You should just forget about her. She doesn't matter, Everest does._

This was what Poet always told himself when he thought about _her._

Everest looked up from her book, her smile warmed Poet's heart, and he couldn't help but smile back.

"Still writing in your journal?" He asked. Almost a year ago, before Poet had even arrived, Everest had begun to write a journal. Poet had read several chapters, and had found it to be quite interesting. Her tales about her adventures with the Paw patrol were very interesting to say the least. It also had had a secondary effect on him.

He had begun to write again.

He was a bit rusty, as the last thing time he had written anything was almost a year ago when he completed his Night Springs series. He had been writing a story he had called "Poet or bandit?". He was out of practice, but he was getting better. Everest had helped significantly with that, their affection for each other motivated him to push forward.

She was his muse.

He sat down next to her, and they locked eyes. They both could feel the energy in the room between them, drawing them closer together. Their bodies and minds seemed to go into autopilot, they both knew what each other wanted. Their heads began to tilt, they leaned toward each other, their eyes slid shut, and they stretched their lips toward the other's.

 _ ***POP***_

The Chalet went dark. Every single light inside and outside the building simultaneously shut off. The coffee pot stopped humming, and Poet and Everest's eyes shot open. The only light remaining in the Chalet was from the fireplace. Poet could see panic entering Everest's eyes, her fear of the dark kicking in hard.

"P-Poet, please go check the fuse box," Everest whimpered.

Poet immediately shot up and ran back to the door. The fuse box was beside it, he opened it and grabbed the flashlight inside. He did a few checks, and discovered the problem.

"Everest, it's just a power outage. I've got the flashlight," Poet said as he walked back to the fireplace. He sat back down next to Everest. "Hi," he said to her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "It just really spooked me."

"Don't worry about it," he said reassuringly. "We'll just get out some candles."

…

Poet and Everest sat next to the fireplace, surrounded by lit candles. A warm light cascaded from them, it was very welcoming for the two pups. Poet had a reassuring arm around Everest.

"I know it's stupid," Everest began. "I'm still not sure what it is, but it gets to me. It's terrifying."

With his other fore-paw, Poet gently stroked the side of Everest's face. "I love you," he told her. Everest returned a smile. She layed down all the way with her head under where his was.

"Tell me a story writer," she told him. Poet placed his head on top of her's.

"Well," he said in thought. "When I was a young pup, I would have all these crazy nightmares. The dark really spooked me too. When it got really bad my mom gave me this old pen, she called it the Clicker."

"The Clicker huh?"

"Yeah. If I was ever scared I could just click it on and the magic light would scare all the monsters away. I actually still have it with me here," he said as he lifted his head up and pulled the pen from his pocket.

"Aww, Poet," Everest said, her smile growing.

"Maybe it'll help you too," Poet said as Everest grasped it in her paw.

"That's so cute Poet. You made that up right now didn't you," Everest said looking up from it to his eyes.

"No no, I'm serious," he replied with a smile on his face. Everest chuckled in reply.

"I love you, even if you are a liar," she said playfully.

They both smiled at that, moving closer to each other. They were alone in the cabin at night, surrounded by candle light, sitting next to a fire. It was the perfect opportunity. Without any further interruptions to interrupt their night, the two leaned forward, and shared their first kiss together.

 _ **A/N: well guys, this was a quick update. I figured this chapter was too separate to include in the next chapter. I figured I would need some flashbacks between each chapter, hopefully to further show and develop Poet and Everest's relationship. Please review, and give me something positive please. I don't want to put this story on hold like I did with Poet or bandit. But I only got 2 reviews last chapter and neither of them were positive.**_

 _ **So PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	6. Chapter 4

Bright Falls

Present day

"How do you feel Ms. Everest? Any nausea or disorientation?" The doctor asked Everest as he shined his light in her eyes, examining them. "Ms. Everest? How do you feel?"

Honestly, Everest didn't feel right. She still had a headache, her memory of the past week was gone, and she knew from both that she had had a concussion. She looked into the eyes of the doctor, they were kind aged eyes. They were the kind of eyes you would want in a doctor, one that showed that they cared just by looking at them. Maybe she should tell him what had happened. She closed her eyes, a large mistake.

By closing her eyes, gruesome pictures of what had transpired a few hours ago flashed in a rapid fire fashion. She reopened her eyes, realizing that the events would probably keep her awake for a long time to come. Then again, it's not like she would have anything pleasant to dream about in the first place.

"I'm ok, my head's fine," she told the doctor. She had to lie about her head and memory loss. She would be sent away to a hospital for tests. She wouldn't leave Bright Falls before knowing Poet was safe.

The doctor told her to follow his finger, and she did as she was told. "Hmm," he finally said. "Very well. I don't think you have a concussion, but you've obviously been through quite a shock. You should take it easy for a couple of days," he advised her as he turned to pack up his equipment.

"Thank you," Everest said as she hopped off the table and onto the floor.

"Well, we're done here. If the pain gets any worse, or you experience any other symptoms, you should come see me. I'll let you get on with it then. Sharah- I mean, Sheriff Breaker is waiting for you. She's really good at her job. I'm sure she can locate Poet in no time."

That puzzled Everest. "How did you know about that?"

"The Paw Patrol had come by the station a week ago saying that you and Poet had gone missing. I'm sure they'll be happy to know you're ok."

"Thanks," she said.

Doctor Nelson was the image of a small town doctor. He had been called by the sheriff to take a look at the cut in Everest's head. Luckily, she knew she wouldn't be sent away. She decided to talk to Sheriff Breaker, but she didn't know what to do after that.

She walked down the hall to the sheriff's office, opening the door she found her standing at a window.

"Come in Everest," the sheriff said. "We took the luxury of re-charging your pup tag for you. It's there on my desk."

Everest walked over to the tag. Picking it up off the desk, she reattached it to her collar. Somehow idle conversation with the Paw patrol didn't feel very reassuring. "Have you started looking for Poet yet?"

"My men have been on it for the past week. We were actually hoping you could help. Do you remember anything?"

"I don't know. Me and Poet had a fight, something happened to the cabin."

"The cabin on Cauldron lake?" the sheriff asked skeptically. "How did you end up at Hefty's gas station?"

Everest stayed quiet. She still couldn't tell the sheriff what had happened, if she could ever tell her at all. She couldn't be sent away, not when she had no clue as to Poet's location. Without warning, it felt like the world had been turned upside down.

So why did it surprise her when her pup tag started ringing. It rang a ringtone you would normally hear out of a cell phone, and there was a reason for it. A while ago, Ryder had added a feature into the pups' tags. They could receive phone calls independently. Skye had made use of it multiple times to talk to Ace in the past. To prevent any confusion regarding who was calling, they each had independent ringtones for their friends in Adventure Bay. The ringtone currently being played from Everest's pup tag was for 'unknown' callers. That raised a big question.

Who was calling her?

"Excuse me," she told the sheriff. "I need to take this." She walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her before she answered it.

"Hello?" she said.

" _Everest, please help me."_

Everest froze. The voice sounded terrified, but was still recognizable. For a moment, her voice caught in her throat.

"Poet?"

" _Stop talking to the law,"_ a new voice said. " _You'll do exactly as we say if you ever want to see your little boy friend again."_

"Who is this," she demanded.

" _There's a junker out back of the station, go through the fence on the left. We left something for you there on the seat to show we're on the same page. After that, meet me up at a place called 'lover's peak' in Dark Wood National Park, tonight at midnight. Don't do nothing stupid pall, we'll be watching you."_

Who ever it was hung up at that point. Everest's first instinct was to tell the sheriff, but then she stopped. The kidnapper had said to stop talking to the law, and that he could see her. It just might be a ruse, but if they really did have Poet… She wouldn't take that chance. She turned and re-entered the office. As she closed the door behind her, the sheriff asked her another question.

"What was that about?"

"It's personal," Everest replied. "Mind if I go out back for a moment?"

"Hmm, alright. But don't leave yet, we still have some things to talk about."

"Ok."

With that, Everest turned and left the office. She walked through the main lobby, noticing the crazy husky from the dinar a week ago. She still had the lantern around her neck like a collar or necklace. She was standing next to the front door, turning the lights on and off, testing how quickly they came on; and to see if they were almost burnt out.

"Thank you for testing the lights Miss Holo. Everything seems to be fine," the woman behind a desk replied patiently.

"I don't have the luxury of being complacent Deputy Garand. The lights will need changing soon. You can't change them in the dark."

"I'll be sure to take care of it Miss Holo, have a nice day now."

"Very good. I'll come by later to remind you, just in case."

With that, the adult husky named Holo walked out the door. The deputy took notice of Everest and saw the confused look on her face.

"That was Holo. I guess you could call her the town eccentric. When she first came here three and a half years ago, she was a writer and wrote book called "Bright Falls and Night Springs". But she's focused on- oh, other things these days. You see, she's what you would call a domestic dog. She doesn't have an owner, but she's not a stray either. In some states, when a dog becomes an adult they can get their citizenship. But until then they must remain either under the custody of their parents, or of their owners. What's confusing about her however is that although she had proven her citizenship, everything else about her is completely unknown."

"She actually might fit in where I'm from."

"As you can see, she's a little obsessed with maintaining the light bulbs… of the whole town. Refuses to step on shadows, things like that. Back in her day, she wrote all kinds of weird stuff. Bright Falls has a colorful history. Of course, what small town hasn't?"

Everest couldn't argue with that. Just taking a look at life in Adventure Bay was weird. For a moment, Everest wondered what weird stuff had happened here, that maybe she should get a copy of the book as a souvenir, but only for a moment.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" The deputy asked.

"I need to get some air, the sheriff said I could go out back," she notified the deputy.

"Sure. You can go out through the cell corridor. Just don't mind Mr. Led, he's one of our regulars if you know what I mean."

Everest walked over the door at the back of the station. She opened it and walked inside, seeing that the corridor was dark. And she heard someone call out from down it. The voice sounded drowsy, slurred, intoxicated.

"Hey! Hey is someone there? Could you turn the light- the lights on? The cops, they don't understand, I-I need it bright in here!"

Everest could relate to the man, despite him sounding drunk. She was still afraid of the dark after all, not to mention what she had gone through last night with the taken. Besides, the corridor got darker the farther down it was from the door. She reached up and flipped the switch, the florescent bulbs simultaneously turning on above, light flooding the darkened corridor.

She walked down it, reaching the cell that the man was drunkenly standing inside. Everything about the man screamed drunk. And that wasn't to be rude, everything about him just screamed drunk. From the way he stood, to the way he smelt, not to mention the way his voice slurred leaving no doubt.

"Thank you, thank you. You're a good dog. Don't let anyone tell you different. You know, I shouldn't even be in here, the cops- they got it all wrong… I mean, yeah yeah, I beat him up. But I wasn't drunk then… I-I mean I wasn't drunk at the time, I only… got drunk… after…"

He made it that far before he crumbled to the ground, losing consciousness. How much did the guy drink that night? Far too much obviously.

She continued her way down the hall, noticing something on the floor in the cell beside Mr. Led's. She walked inside the cell, realizing it was another page to the story. She picked it up, and read it.

 _For Skye, the cabin they had rented on Cauldron lake was beautiful. The setting was so romantic, and she hoped that this would be the week that Chase finally confessed his feelings for her. Everyone knew about Chase's crush for her, including her. She found it cute._

 _She had also found Marshall's crush on Everest adorable as well. So it was still very difficult for everyone that Poet and Everest were together instead. Marshall still held the same respect for Poet as the rest of the team, but still had a sore spot for them. But she couldn't blame Everest either._

 _In this story of life, Marshall just wasn't her type. On the other hand however, Skye didn't really like Poet. She could tell that even Jake didn't really have a bond with him. Everest seemed to be the only one that really cared for Poet. Why? It was a question that had puzzled the entire Paw patrol, but no one dared to ask directly._

 _They didn't want to hurt Everest's feelings, but they all found themselves inviting Everest over less and less. Poet never left her side, and secretly it was pushing Everest and the Paw Patrol apart. They hated it, and they slowly found themselves hating Poet in the process._

' _So that's how they feel about Poet,'_ Everest thought to herself. She knew that Poet was probably the least liked out of all the Paw Patrol, and she also knew that the rest of the Paw Patrol tolerated Poet. Before today however, she thought they were just still suspicious of him because of his background.

Then again, that is if she trusted that these weird pages were in fact true. She would have to trust that these pages did foretell the future, or that the future followed what was written on them. For a moment, Everest found it to be an interesting idea.

Whatever was written came true.

She didn't dwell on the idea for long. She needed to get back to business. She walked out of the cell, heading for the door to her right. Turning the knob, she walked out of the station.

The light from the early morning sun hurt her eyes and made her head acke. She remembered the caller had said, 'Go through the fence on the left.' So that's what she did.

There was a hole in the fence, she crawled through it. The old wrecked car was there, it was rusty and falling apart from time and the elements. She walked to it, looking through the doorless frame on the driver's side. She was shocked at what she saw.

Poet's pup tag was on the seat. The caller meant business. As she picked it up and put it in her pocket, her pup tag rang again. A familiar ringtone sounded.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Everest? Everest!" It was Jake "Oh, thank God. Where have you been? I've been trying to call you for a weak. You and Poet."

"Jake listen to me. I'm at the sheriff's station. Come and get me, I can't talk now."

"Everest? What's going o-"

Everest ended the call there. She turned to head back when she saw something white on a large stone. It was another manuscript.

 _Skye had brought a camera with her to put something in the Paw Patrol's photo album. She stood on the cliff above Cauldron lake, staring through the viewfinder to line up a shot of the cabin with the sunset in the background. The view was breathtaking._

 _Then she saw something. A thin dog wearing a black dress. She lowered the camera, then looked again. There was no dog there. There was just a collection of bushes that looked vaguely dog-shaped. She shook her head and laughed._

For Everest, this was proof for her that the lake was there a week ago. That settled that for her. So what had happened? She shook her head again before she headed back to the door into the cell corridor. Something told her it wouldn't be the last time she shook her head to clear it. As she approached the door leading back into the lobby, an old tv that hung on the wall came to life. Poet was on the screen.

" _I'll keep writing. It's difficult to concentrate, but I have to keep going. If I stop, the world I'm creating will plunge into darkness. Everything will be consumed if I end it now. It's so difficult, but I can't stop. Nyx's life is at stake._

 _I'll bring her back, I'll fix it."_

The tv burnt out like the one from last night, and Everest didn't know how to react to what she had watched. Was she going insane? And who was this 'Nyx'? What did Poet mean by 'I'll bring her back'?

She had fewer answers than questions. The sooner she got back to Jake and the Paw Patrol the better.

Shaking her head again, she re-entered the lobby, noticing the sheriff talking to an older man. The man wore khaki pants and a white shirt. She walked up to the pair, the sheriff noticing her as she approached.

"Hey Everest, how are you feeling?"

"I'd like to leave. Am I free to go?"

"Well, we still need to talk about-"

"Am I under arrest?"

There was a pause between the two.

"No," the sheriff replied. "Of course not. But I'll need to know where you're staying so we can keep in touch with you."

The older man cut in.

"I'm Dr. Emil Hartman. I invite you to stay at Cauldron Lake Lodge," he said with a smile, kneeling down to her level.

The name 'Dr. Hartman' hit her, hard. He was the guy Poet had said he had set up an appointment with. According to her memory, that man had caused the argument they had had. He was the reason the last thing Everest had said to Poet was something she would regret for a long time. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Did you talk to Poet and Jake?" She was trying to contain her anger, and her voice showed it.

"I had the pleasure to discuss your situation with both of them," he said his smile not faltering even in the slightest.

"Did you set something up with them?"

"I invited them here." Something snapped inside Everest when she heard that. Was that the only reason they came here? To get therapy for something she couldn't control? Her temper was slipping, every word he said made her want to hurt him even more.

"My clinic is a place where-" He stumbled back as Everest punched him right in the face. If it wasn't for the sheriff grabbing her by the collar she would have continued the onslaught.

"Hey take it easy!" the sheriff said trying to calm the frenzied dog. Just after she said it, a familiar face burst through the front door.

"Alright, everyone freeze!" Shouted the new dog. Everyone stopped and looked at the dog.

"Who are you?" The sheriff asked.

"I'm Chase from the Paw patrol. I'm their police pup, Everest is one of ours."

The sheriff let go of Everest, and Everest walked toward Chase. Dr. Hartman held his nose for a moment, then said the following.

"I'm ok sheriff, I don't want to press charges." He turned back to Everest. "My offer still stands Everest. Come by when you think the time is right."

Everest glared at him for a moment before turning and walking out the door. "Let's get out of here," she said quietly to him. He followed her out the door.

"What the heck was that Everest?" Chase asked as they walked over to the Paw patroller.

"Just take me to wherever we're staying. I'll explain on the way."

So that's what she did.

She told them everything. What had happened, what she remembered, the fact she couldn't remember anything from the past week, and everything else in between. That included the fact she had gotten a call from the kidnapper, and that she had to meet him at a place call 'lover's peak'.

They arrived at the ranger station in Shadow Wood National Park. Because Everest didn't have a pup house available as of right then, they would need another place to stay. A golden retriever walked out and greeted the Paw patrol.

"Hey guys! I'm glad to see you found Everest! I was just bringing Rusty some coffee"

"Hi Wose," Zuma said with a wink and a wave. She blushed, waved back, and turned to head back home for the night. Everest recognized her as the dog that had said she was a fan in the diner.

"What an airhead," Everest said quietly.

"Gez Mrs. Takes-a-swing-at-everybody. She's a nice girl, a fan, and was very helpful in the search for you," Chase said to her.

As the Paw patrol walked in to make arrangements, Chase restarted the argument with Everest over her choice to do what the kidnaper said.

"I don't like it Everest. I don't like any of it. It's not good. In fact, it's the opposite of good. I mean, what you said in the Paw patroller, just listen to yourself. What, you shot a guy, and his body just disappeared? When was the last time you slept? Are you high on something? Have you been drinking?"

"Wha- No! Look Chase, I'm missing a week! And someone's got Poet. Everything's just-"

"Do you understand what you sound like when you say something like that?" Chase cut in. "This isn't one of Poet's stories Everest. When you start confusing reality for fiction, you're buying yourself a ticket to the funny farm. Seriously Everest, you can't just go and meet a kidnaper! Those situations allways end up in disaster! We got to talk to the cops."

"It's my decision Chase. And it's my call. Can we talk about this later?"

"No! This whole this is- Look, you hit your head. Maybe you-"

"I know what I saw Chase. I'd give anything to un-see it."

Chase sighed. "Look Everest, you're trying to convince me that you shot a guy whose body went poof, into thin air. That he was bullet-proof until you pointed a flashlight at him, and that you can now suddenly heal when you stand under a street lamp," he said almost sounding disappointed.

Everest didn't really know how to reply. What should she say? She knew there was probably nothing that could convince Chase that what had happened was real. Marshall, who had been listening to the argument, along with the rest of the Paw patrol, spoke up.

"Chase, you know as much as I do that Everest has never lied to us. What she said may be hard to believe, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen."

Everest smiled. She could always count on Marshall to have her back. It brought happiness to her heart that Marshall could believe her.

Chase asked Marshall if he could talk to him for a moment. While they did that, Everest headed over to the reception desk. A black labrador in a park ranger outfit was behind the counter, helping Ryder with the arrangements. She noticed it was Rusty, he had been at the diner a week ago.

"Ok, you're all set," he told Ryder and handed him the keys. Ryder thanked him and walked back to rejoin with the other pups. As he left, Rusty noticed Everest approaching. They exchanged greetings and Everest asked him if he knew how to get to lover's peak.

"Oh sure," he said. "It's up the nature path. Just follow the trails, you'll get to it eventually. Nice spot too."

"Thanks," Everest said as she turned to get back on the patroller.

"Oh wait!" Rusty called after her. Everest turned back around in response. "If you're going on the nature trails I should tell you something." Rusty leaned forward. "Recently, some lowlifes planted beartraps all throughout the forest."

"Beartraps?"

Rusty nodded. "They're illegal to use. Heck, you're not supposed to hunt in the park at all. But some seem to believe they're above the law. Be careful."

"Thanks Rusty." This conversation made Everest nervous. What else would she have to go against? What else should she watch out for? Tonight she would have to face against the Taken, the kidnapper, beartraps and possibly something more if this story continued down this path.

…

The sun had set an hour ago, the night was cooling off, and of course it was dark outside. You could see the ranger station from the cabin, as it was set on a hill. From outside, the atmosphere appeared to be clear; what was going on inside however, was another story.

 _ACHOO!_

"Bless you," someone called out as Chase sneezed again. After the dust in the cabin settled, Chase sniffled. Trying to hold back another sneeze.

Everest checked the clock on the wall, it read 10:48 P.M (2248 hours). She took a deep breath and headed for the door. "I'm going to go meet the kidnaper. Don't wait up."

" _Girrrr!_ For the last time Everest, you can't just go out and meet a kidnaper!" Chase shouted, too deep in his frustration to notice the rest of the Paw Patrol beginning to back up against the wall, most cowering in fear, some just in shock.

"Oh really Chase?! Watch me!" she shot back as she approached the door.

"It's too dangerous!"

"Dangerous? Dangerous?!" She shouted as she spun around and faced him. "I'm well aware that it's dangerous Chase! But Poet risked his life for me, and he's been the only one that can truly relate to my situation!"

This was getting out of paw, but no one dared to intervene. Not even Ryder. They were all concerned for both Everest and Chase, as an argument like this was not a regular occurrence. Even when Marshall had left for a short time, it was due to a misunderstanding and not an argument.

Strangely, and unfortunately, this was not the first time an argument like this had happened. Over the past couple of weeks, Everest had been acting strangely. At random times she would have bursts of anger or frustration, or she would be overly excited or happy. Her appetite had grown exponentially as well; even for Everest. Her condition had begun to worsen, Marshall had said it was the anxiety that came with Everest not being able to control her new fear; and Katie had concurred in her diagnosis.

Chase was probably the only one that openly showed his distrust for Poet, and so he had been made the victim of the majority of Everest's mood swings. Those two combined had begun to tear their friendship apart.

And it was showing tonight.

"Saved you life?! HA!" He shot back at her.

"What, do you think that you would go out into a blizzard for me?"

"I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF HE WAS THE REASON YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

…

Silence.

…

Chase's eyes widened, realizing too late that he had taken it too far. The look on Everest's face, the shock, the heartbreak, and just after she had found out that Poet was kidnaped. Chase had just severed their friendship, and had no one to blame but himself for it.

Everest closed her eyes, fighting back tears. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then reopened her eyes and just glared forward. She turned and headed for the door, knowing that no one would stop her. She gave instructions over her back as she opened the door and stepped out.

"The kidnaper said to meet him at midnight at Lover's Peak. So that's where I'm going. If I'm not back by morning, call the cavalry."

She walked down the steps from the porch and began to head down the zigzag path to the bottom of the hill. As she did, she did a double check of the equipment she had. She had 16 shots for the revolver and 4 extra batteries from last night. She also still had the flare gun, but it was empty.

She had her flashlight turned on, and the revolver was placed in one of her pockets, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. She walked forward toward the ranger station, as that was where all the trails started. Rusty had told her to follow them and she would get to lover's peak.

Beside the road, she saw an old car with the trunk open sitting there empty. Both the driver and passenger doors were open, but no one was inside. When she walked over to it, she found another manuscript page sitting in the trunk. She picked it up, and read it.

 _Chase asked Marshall if he could talk to him for a moment. As he pulled him aside, and Everest went to the reception desk, he began to talk to him in a calm voice._

" _Look Marshall," he began. "I just don't want Everest to do something stupid."_

" _I know you mean well Chase," Marshall replied. "But you should take it a bit easy with Everest. What's going on with her sounds like a textbook case of insanity. I fear it may be her condition getting to its worst point."_

Everest blinked. Did Marshall not trust her either? Did he really think she was going insane? No. She wasn't. She couldn't be going insane right? She was still finding these pages after all. But that didn't shake off the fact that Marshall didn't think what had happened was true.

She needed to forget about it for now. Her current task was to get to Lover's Peak, and find out what the kidnapper wanted. She resumed her journey.

As she got closer to the station, she noticed the features around her begin to dim. Everything seemed to be a shade darker than it actually was. The wind picked up, the trees whipping back and forth. Shadows danced across the ground, each one looking more threatening than the last. Everest's eyes widened, she knew what was coming.

"Oh no."

A second after the words left her mouth, a terrible roar thundered through the air, and the ground lightly shook as if it was from a shockwave. Her eyes opened wide. She could see what was creating such a horrifying spectacle, but she wasn't sure if she could believe it, even now.

A tornado that appeared to be made out of pure darkness raced toward the ranger station. This darkness wasn't just an absence of light, it was made of a physical impure and unholy force. Darkness may be a loose word to use, but described such a force perfectly. The Dark Presence was at work.

Everest ran toward the station when she heard a scream, followed by a terrible crash. She recognized the voice behind the scream, it was Rusty.

"Rusty I'm coming!" she shouted back as she broke into a full sprint. He kept screaming.

"Help me! Please, someone, help! Is someone there?! Please help!"

Everest finally arrived at the entrance of the ranger station; what was left of it. The doors, their frames, and a portion of the walls were all missing. The inside of the station was filled badly splintered or destroyed furniture. The statue that was inside was in pieces. The power was out, encompassing the building in the dark of the night.

And then just a shade darker.

At the other side of the room lay Rusty. A huge spot of blood covered the glass behind him, and it trailed down around his body. It was his blood. Whatever had happened had catapulted him into the window, cracking it and leaving the spot of blood behind him.

Everest's flashlight beam didn't leave him as she approached. He was shaking, terrified and confused. He obviously had no idea what was going on.

"Miss. Everest?" He asked his voice shaking as she got closer.

"Oh goodness," she whispered as she got to his side and took in the light of his leg that had twisted the wrong way.

"Miss. Everest. It happened just as it said on that page… came true… so dark." His voice was trembling. He was beyond terrified and was in deep pain. "It'll come back for me. You must…" he sat up a bit. "The lights… in the office. I have the key."

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a set of keys. He handed them to Everest. "Stay here Rusty. I'll go get the lights."

With that, she turned and walked out to head to a small office building. She remembered Rusty saying how something came true on some page. It was on the steps to the entrance of the office. She picked it and read it, knowing it could help her understand what had happened.

 _Rusty stared at the page for a moment. He blinked a few times under the light of the station. Suddenly he felt a shaking, and the lights all simultaneously shut off. He spun around toward the entrance of the station and tried in vain to process what was coming straight toward him._

 _The tornado burst through the entrance and sent him flying back into the large window behind him. He could feel the blood on the window and floor as he slid down. He screamed out in pain as his nerves finally recognized that his leg was twisted the wrong way. He began desperately screaming in pain and terror, suddenly afraid to die alone._

 _Everest came around the corner and entered the building. Rusty was just glad to see her, right now in his eyes she was his savior._

" _Miss. Everest. It happened just as it said on that page…"_

She resumed her journey and approached the office door. She inserted the key into the lock and turned it. There was an audible *click* and the door swung open. Everest quickly rushed inside, past the desks and various other things that lined the inside of the office.

She rounded the corner into a back room, and her hope lit up as she saw on the door that the fuse box was inside. She quickly pushed her way inside. When her eyes settled on the box however, her smile vanished. A fire ax was embedded right in the center of the box, sparks rained from it. The ax had destroyed the circuit breaker.

There was no way to get the lights back on.

Without warning, she heard a scream and a crash. She whirled around and charged back toward the door, recognizing the scream as Rusty's. She cursed herself for making the mistake of leaving him alone in the dark. She had been too blind trying to help him that she didn't notice the big picture.

And both Rusty and Everest would pay for such a mistake.

Everest charged back outside, running across the ground to get back to the station, dread filling her. In her haste she didn't look down and notice what covered her path. Halfway between the buildings, she stepped in something. It burned.

Everest fell to her side in pain, her paw covered in what looked like liquid darkness. If the Dark Presence had blood, this would be it. If it wasn't for the pain, Everest would have noticed it had a similar texture to crude oil. Direct contact with it like how Everest had her paw covered in it burned. It hurt badly, and Everest did the only thing she could think of in her panic.

She focused her light onto her paw. It burned away the liquid darkness that covered her paw. After it faded, she let her light drop back to its ordinary radiance. Her paw still hurt, and she kept her light on it for a moment. It healed her paw slowly. And just before it healed her paw completely, the light flickered and died.

She replaced the battery, now having just 3 of them left.

As the pain almost fully subsided, she began to walk toward the ranger station once again. She had just remembered Rusty, and making sure she didn't step in any more puddles, she ran back inside. She stopped for a moment as she stared at where she had left Rusty.

His body was gone.

She ran toward the spot where it was, the blood was still wet and red on the floor and window. Then she turned to her right and her eyes widened. Something had torn a massive hole in the wall. She heard a voice, and the first word brought hope back to her eyes as she recognized Rusty's voice. The next words however, did not have such an effect.

"Please! **Don't feed the animals!"**

Cautiously, she walked through the hole. As she exited, she heard the voice again. From the roof of the building.

" **Please listen to the park ranger's instructions..."** she spun around and looked up just in time to see Rusty standing there with shadows dancing around his body. His eyes were glowing yellow. He jumped down as he finished his sentence. " **...at all times."**

He then ran. Zigzagging at impossible speeds around Everest. "Rusty!" she called out, but no amount of begging could ever bring him back. He was Taken. He held a hatchet in a paw, and as he got closer he prepared to slash Everest with it.

Meanwhile Everest's eyes darted back and forth trying to keep her sight on him. Her flashlight followed her eyes, trying to figure out where he was, and when he would attack. He turned suddenly straight toward her and prepared a swing with the hatchet. Everest barely had enough time to spin around.

She focused her light, increasing the brightness and it shined right in Rusty's eyes. He brought a paw up and covered his eyes, the shadows beginning to burn off. This Taken was different than the others, it had a slightly higher intelligence than the ones before it. It knew what the pain was, it knew what to do.

Without warning it took off, charging around the corner and disappeared. Everest stopped focusing her light, and she pulled out her gun to prepare for the rest of the fight. Without warning, 2 more Taken appeared around the corner. Everest wasted no time focusing her light on the closest one, only for the battery to die.

She quickly emptied the battery and inserted a new one, restoring the light to its standard brightness. She trained her light back on one of the Taken, noticing they were much closer than before. She burned the shadows off quickly and she fired her gun twice. The bullets hit their mark, and the first Taken vaporized.

The second one rose it's hammer to strike, and Everest quickly whirled around and shined what remained of her light's battery onto the Taken. The shadows burned away surprisingly fast, and she pulled the trigger again. A single bullet finished the Taken off.

Everest just sat there for a moment, and let out the breath she realized she had been holding. Her eyes closed for a second, and she dropped her defences for a moment. In that brief moment of time, she began to relax. She opened her eyes just in time to see Rusty charge around the corner and run straight toward her.

She pulled her defences back up in a panic, focusing her light on him. He stopped running for a moment, and was about to run away again. Then her battery died.

Immediately she emptied the flashlight and pushed a new battery into it. She refocused her light and burned the remaining shadows off the Taken. The darkness no longer protected it, it was vulnerable to attack. It also meant it didn't have the supper speed either.

Everest pulled the trigger as fast as she could, in a rapid sequence. 4 shots would be enough to finish it off.

 _ ***BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *click***_

She gasped as she heard the click. She had forgotten, her revolver could only carry 6 bullets at a time. She had used 2 with the first Taken, and 1 for the second. She quickly opened the chamber and loaded in a single bullet before closing it. The Taken Rusty rose his hatchet and brought it down. Everest barely avoided it, and she rolled on the ground. She pointed the gun at the Taken while still lying on the ground, and pulled the trigger.

Rusty's body vaporized, and it was only after she got back up did Everest realize it would probably be like this all the way to Lover's Peak. The worst was still to come. And she had to be ready for it.

 **To be continued.**

 **A/N: this chapter was actually supposed to be longer, but I really wanted to post something and ensure everyone that hasn't kept up to date with the story that it was still going.**

 **Finals will be coming up pretty soon for me so don't expect another chapter until June. BUT I WILL CONTINUE!**

 _ **PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU GUYS AND GALS THINK! I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT! IF I GET ENOUGH POSITIVE REVIEWS I'LL POST THE NEXT ONE SHOT IN MAY!**_


	7. Chapter 5

February 10, 2017

Adventure bay

"Thanks for the bath Katie," Poet said as he crawled out of the tub and shook himself dry. Katie smiled.

"No problem Poet, come by anytime you like."

"I might just hold you to that," Poet said as he put his clothes back on. A white shirt and a tweed jacket. He walked to the door, it opening as he left the building. Not looking where he was going, he bumped into Everest and Skye as they approached.

"Sorry Everest," Poet apologized with a smile as he continued on his way.

"I'm still not sure what you see in him," Skye said with a slight grimace as he got back on his bike and rode off. He disappeared into the distance as he headed back to the Chalet.

"Hey! Don't talk like that because you're jealous," Everest replied before playfully punching Skye on her shoulder. Truth be told, Everest knew that wasn't what it was, but she didn't want her relationship with her friends to fade. Chase flat out didn't trust Poet, Marshall was alright with him as he was normally caring, but because of his past crush on Everest still was a bit sore. The rest of the Paw Patrol tolerated him, but they weren't friends.

Strangely, that's how Poet seemed to like it. She had asked about it before, and he had only replied that: "I don't want to become deeply attached with more than a few people or dogs. Something always seems to happen to them when I do."

Now in the present, Everest and Skye turned to enter the shop before Everest noticed something on the ground. She picked it up and realized it was a wallet. She opened it and saw a familiar face.

"Hey, this is Poet's wallet," she realized. She then shrugged. "He must have dropped it when he bumped into us. I'll give it back to him when we get back to the Chalet," Everest said as she reached to place the wallet in one of her pockets.

"Wait, let's take a look inside," Skye said reaching for the wallet.

"What? Why?" Everest asked pulling the wallet away from the cockapoo.

"Everest, we still don't know a lot about Poet. We should at least know when his birthday or something is."

Skye had a point. As much as Everest hated to admit it, she did. Poet didn't really like to talk about his past. He _had_ been on the run from the pound, police, and FBI, for being both a strey and a bandit for the past three years. It wasn't a life he was proud of. The only part of it he _was_ proud of was his book series Night Springs. He had made it while he was on the run. But other than that, he didn't like to talk about the past. It was something Everest could compare to, as she also didn't like to talk about her past. There was a reason she was alone in the arctic after all.

In the end, Everest didn't even know his birthday. At least this way she could do it without asking him and just making them both uncomfortable. Hesitantly, she opened the wallet. Poet's licence was the first thing she saw, and it was all she needed. She read the information written, and noticed something peculiar.

"Look at this," Everest said to Skye. She pointed out a specific piece of information. Skye realized what she meant.

"Born February 11, 2000? But today's February 10, which means that..."

"Yeah. I wonder why he never told us his birthday is tomorrow."

Both stared at the wallet for a while longer before Everest put it in her pocket. The fact that Poet had kept this a secret puzzled her. Yes she knew that he didn't like to talk about his past, but she felt that this was a bit extreme.

"What should we do?" Asked Skye.

Everest paused for a moment. What _should_ they do? How does one react to finding out their boyfriend's birthday is tomorrow? Everest stood there for a minute, then put a determined look on her face.

"After our bath, let's get the rest of the Paw Patrol together. We've got a party to plan."

…

February 11, sunset.

Jake's chalet.

Poet cut the engine to his motorcycle and climbed off. He walked up the steps to the chalet that had served as his home for months. All the while, he was listing in his head the things he had on him and the things he was going to need for the night. The snow had melted surprisingly early this year, and Poet was grateful for it.

He opened the door and stepped inside the dim room. He flipped the switch, and the lights all simultaneously turned on.

" _SURPRISE!"_

Poet jumped back for a moment as the residents of the whole town jumped up from behind their cover and shouted that single word as loud as they could. In total happiness. Some were excited that there was another party, some wanted to enjoy the cake, another wanted to give a friend happiness.

Before Poet could do anything, he was pulled in by the crowd with a cone party hat suddenly strapped to his head. He looked around and saw the streamers, balloons, confetti, and the large 'Happy Birthday' banner. On the table was a birthday cake, with 17 candles lit on top of it.

They finally stopped walking in front of a camera, a person set the timer and ran back into the crowd. The photo was snapped, Everest was the first one to rush to it to grab the photo as it slid out and began to develop. She was ecstatic, they had worked hard in a short amount of time to put all of this together.

The picture was perfect, she smiled as she saw how amazingly the photo had developed. All she needed was a frame to put it in. She quickly found Poet in the photo, and couldn't wait to see his smiling face.

He wasn't smiling.

Her own smile faded, and she turned around to face him. Her eyes widened when she saw his expression. She had to force herself not to gasp. Poet's face showed heartbreak, betrayal, disbelief, and depression. He walked backwards to the door, slowly shaking his head with his eyes wide open. He then reached up to the flimsy party hat, grabbed it in his paw, and tore it off his head as he spun around and ran out the door. Tears pouring from his eyes.

Not long after, the sound of a motorcycle starting could easily be heard. The clutch was opened and Poet drove off. For a moment no one moved. No one was sure what to do. Then Everest realized something, and she ran to the door to go after Poet.

"Wait," Ryder called after her. "Maybe we should just give Poet some time."

Everest stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and simply shouted: "What?!"

"Everest," Ryder continued. "Poet's never acted this way before, we should just let him be. He should come back when he calms down."

"What? Poet could kill himself driving in that condition! I'm going after him."

With that she charged out the door and started up her snowmobile. Following after Poet's trail. It lead outside Adventure Bay, and to an old abandoned ghost town.

Everest had no idea where he had gone, he seemed to just disappear. Everest was about to panic until she heard it.

A pipe organ.

She followed the sound to an old cathedral in the center of the town. It wasn't until she got a bit closer did she really listen to the music. Whoever was playing the it sounded distressed.

Rage, pain, depression, misery. This is what she heard from the music. How ironic it was. Churches are to be a place of worship, sanctuary, and joy. Pipe organs were designed as instruments to create music, to praise God above. To worship the loving Creator.

How ironic it was that such an instrument could also be used to create such tragic music.

Everest reached the aged wood doors to the cathedral. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked inside.

...

Poet pulled out the weathered photo in its old frame out of his bag. He set it on the side of the organ, and let out a sigh as he traced the face of one of the two individuals in the photo. Another tear slid down his cheek.

He didn't know how they found out that today was his birthday, but he wished that they hadn't. Another tear rolled down his other cheek, he continued staring at the photo, at the two smiling faces.

He turned away, away from the smiles back toward the organ's keys. With the flip of a switch he turned the beautiful machine on, and let his paws hover over the keys for a moment. He closed his eyes. He had played the organ long enough to know where all the keys were without even looking at where he placed his fingers.

"I shall play for you," he whispered to someone long past. "You who so loved music." He then began to play. The original version of the piece was absolutely beautiful, but the version he began to play was twisted, dark, dreary, depressing, doleful, wretched, and morbid.

And darker still it got.

(Davy Jones theme. Pirates of the Caribbean. Jakjak777(youtube name) Start at 1:13.)

Poet wasn't sure how long he was there playing the organ in a dase, but he didn't come to his senses until he heard someone calling his name over the sound of the organ.

"Poet!" He opened his eyes and stopped playing mid phrase. He turned around on the bench, and frowned at who had called his name.

"What do you want Everest?" He asked her as he turned back toward the organ.

"What happened Poet?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "You know what happened tonight Everest."

"I'm talking about what happened years ago. What happened on this date that made you react like you did?"

Poet didn't move for a while. When he did, he reached up and picked up the photo beside him. He turned to Everest and held the photo in front of her. Her eyes widened. In the photo, there were 2 pups sitting next to each other. One of them had an arm draped behind the other's neck. They were both smiling broadly at the camera, the kind of smile that made you want to smile along with them.

Their colors, patterns, breed pointed to them both being closely related. Most probably siblings One of the pups was what looked like a much younger version of Poet. So who was the other pup? Everest looked up to Poet for an answer.

"Her name was Melody," he said. "She was my twin sister."

Everest's eyes grew wider still. This was new. "You never told me you have a sister."

" _Had_ a sister."

"Ok, had a sister. What happened?"

There was another long pause of silence between the two. Poet took a deep breath, then continued.

"4 years ago today, Melody and I were at a public concert hall in our home town. She was a talented violinist, and as a birthday gift to me she was going to play for me my favorite piece. Its official title is "A time for us" from an old Romeo and Juliet movie, however my family liked to call it "Alone Wolf". Half way through the piece, a man who was playing along side her pulled out a pocket pistol and…"

Poet went silent for a moment.

"And what?" Everest asked.

"He shot her."

…

…

…

"What?" Everest breathed, her voice suddenly gone.

"He just turned and shot her, right in the chest. She died that day, bled to death in my arms. The gunshot still haunts my dreams, and I lost virtually all my sympathy for humans that day. The worst part was, he wasn't even charged with murder. Because 'murder is when a human being takes the life of another human being'. But I think they only used that because I'm a half breed."

"You're only half husky?"

He nodded.

"What other dog are you crossed with? You don't look like you're just half husky."

"You misunderstand. I said I'm a _Half_ breed, not mixed breed like your friend Rocky."

There was a moment of confusion in Everest's head, then she realized what he was saying.

"Wait, are you…?" she let the question hang in the air.

"My father was a wolf."

Another period of silence.

"Go ahead," Poet said his ears drooping. "Hate me. My secret's out now. Any relationship we had before is probably gone."

"What? No!" His ears perked up, and his eyes widened. Did he just hear that right? "Poet, this doesn't change anything for me. If anything if gives me clarity. I'm just happy to know what happened." Did she just say what he just heard? "Poet, I love you."

That did it for him. He lept off the bench and tackled Everest in such a way that she was unharmed. He pinned her to the ground, and kissed her. The kiss was deep and passionate. And Everest melted into it after she got over her shock. It was a wondrous feeling.

After some time had passed, they pulled apart. Both of them stared into each other's eyes. Enormous smiles were spread across their faces, and the joy they shared was unimaginable. Poet finally let Everest back up, and they hugged together one last time.

"Like I said before Poet, this doesn't change anything. I still love you. On a happier note, tell me about your sister. I'd love to hear about her."

Poet smiled back. "Sure," he said. "I'd love to tell you about her."

They walked out together, holding paws. They only separated to get back into their vehicles and drive back to the chalet.

As for Poet, he smiled knowing that he could trust Everest. This time, he was safe to fall in love.

Or so he thought.

 **A/N: I didn't get any hate, so I decided to work hard on this. I have finals in two weeks, so I can't work very much on this.**


	8. Chapter 6

Bright Falls

Present day

Everest walked down the steps away from the Ranger Station. At the bottom of them was the beginning of the nature trail, which is where she needed to go to get to Lover's Peak. She walked in silence as she was still a bit shaken from what had transpired moments ago. She still felt horrible for leaving Rusty alone like she did, if she hadn't he might still be alive.

It was a bit difficult for her. She had felt loss before, like when the hitchhiker died, or even from what had happened long before that. But when the hitchhiker died she had her whole family beside her. Now they thought she was literally going insane. They believed that Poet had been kidnapped, but as far as she knew that was it.

She examined her equipment again, checking how much she had left. She was down to just one extra battery, an empty flare gun, and 9 bullets. It wasn't a lot but it would have to do until she could get something more.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, her pup tag beeped.

"Hello?" She said

"Wha- what was that?!" Chase practically screamed. Everest winced as his voice assaulted her ears. She could hear the other pups behind him trying to cut in and call her back in a panic state. "I saw- I saw something!" She rolled her eyes.

"Forget about it guys, it's just _me_ going crazy."

For a moment she only got silence as a response.

"Oh, jeez. Ohhhhhh, jeez." Chase said quietly. "You're not crazy. I wish you were crazy, but you're not crazy!"

"Listen to me, keep the lights on and don't open the door for anyone. I mean it."

She hung up after that. She couldn't get distracted with what had happened. The past was beyond her control, she needed to keep moving forward. She continued down the pathway and found another red emergency box like from last night. She opened it and smiled at its contents. It contained two packs of batteries and another pack of ammo for her revolver. She took them all, now having 15 bullets and 5 batteries.

It still wasn't a lot, but it was much better than before. She continued forward down the boardwalk and deep into the forest. She shivered as another chill ran down her spine, her ears were erect and twitching around to hear every little movement around her. Her flashlight was still in paw, and she was scanning her surroundings with it.

She stopped when she heard something. The noise was only there for a moment, and it was fairly quiet, but it was still there. She pointed her flashlight over to the tree she had heard it come from. It had come from behind the tree, and she gulped as she approached it slowly.

Having her gun at the ready, she moved around the tree before snapping right at whatever made the noise.

There was nothing there. She looked down and saw it was another manuscript page. She sighed in relief, and let go of the tension that had build up. She shook her head, realizing how embarrassing the might have looked had she been seen. She put her gun away and picked up the page.

 _Chase was an atheist. No one could deny that. To him, the idea of some higher force didn't really appeal to him. He just believed things were as they were._

 _But when he saw the Dark Presence attack the Ranger Station with a giant tornado, it made him a believer. Suddenly, he saw the world in a whole different perspective. Those people Everest said she had shot, they weren't just locals on crank._

 _So when the birds attacked the cabin, Chase wasn't surprised. Just terrified._

Birds?

Would she also have to watch out for birds? Why would they attack the cabin? These were questions that came to her mind, but she had no answer to. Her objective was still to get to Lover's Peak, she had a kidnaper to meet.

…

Everest fired two more bullets almost over her shoulder. The Taken were still charging after her, and she was running out of bullets and batteries. Another Taken charged at her, and she fired the remaining ammo in her gun at it. Opening the ammo cylinder, she reloaded her last 6 bullets into it.

She was deep into the forest, there was no way she could run anywhere if she ran out of supplies.

A large Taken with a sledgehammer approached her slowly. She focused her light on it, and the shadows burnt off. She then pulled the trigger 4 times in hopes that it would would be enough to destroy the Taken. It wasn't. She hesitated for a moment, then pulled the trigger again.

 _ ***BANG* *BANG***_

With that, the gun was empty. It did destroy the Taken, but another one appeared around another tree. It held dual hatchets as weapons, and it charged at Everest.

Everest realized it was still probably futile to run as they would catch her eventually; and she couldn't just run out of the forest, as she was too deep inside. Then she saw a glimmer of hope.

A single overhead lamp illuminated a wooden platform of some kind. The light seemed to be dense almost, she couldn't see past it. But she knew at the same time, somehow, it would be the key to her salvation.

But there was a problem, she could feel her stamina draining. She began taking deep labored breaths and she found herself slowing down. She was so close, only about 6 yards (6 meters) away from the light. She glanced over her shoulder to see the Taken that was chasing after her throw one of the hatchets right at her head.

She just had enough time to duck, and the hatchet splintered the trunk of a tree. Almost tripping on her own paws, she stumbled into the light and closed her eyes, bracing herself for the killing blow. It never came.

She hesitantly opened one eye, then the other. She stared out into the darkness, nothing moved in the shadows beyond. She smiled in relief. For the moment, bathed in the cold light, she was safe.

She turned to look at the wooden platform she stood on. It appeared to be a station to a cable car that lead over a massive crevasse. There was another red emergency box on it, she quickly walked over to it, and opened it.

There was another pack of batteries, giving her 4. There was something different about these batteries, they were lithium batteries. They could carry a larger charge, meaning that she could boost her light for a longer time without replacing the battery. She only had 2 of them however.

Looking at the rest of the supplies, there was no ammo for her revolver in the box, but there was another shot for her flare gun. She put her revolver away, and loaded the shot into her flare gun. She put it in another pocket.

The sign said that Lovers' Peak was across the crevasse. So she would have to use the cable car to cross over. _That_ could only go well. Unfortunately, she didn't have any other option. She pressed the button and called the cable car from the other side.

When it arrived, she opened the gate of the car and stepped inside. The cable car was relatively small, besides the railing around it it didn't have any walls or a roof. It was open, and the floor was more of a grating than a floor. She took a deep breath, and pressed the button.

The cable car began forward with a click and a constant hum. Everest looked down below her through the grating, seeing the earth and trees below. Suddenly she heard a creaking and the cable car began to sway lightly as the wind picked up. She looked up and around, wondering where the Taken were. There was no way they could get her, she was a quarter way across the gorge. Then she looked up toward the sky, hearing a flock of birds, and saw them.

A hundred dead eyes stared back at her. They looked like a flock of ravens or crows, and you could tell something was off by how they flew. Without warning, the flock turned and dove straight toward Everest, their intent obvious. These were the Taken virsion of birds.

Everest rose her flashlight at the flock, and the swarm exploded like fireworks. The birds let off screams of pain as feathers burned, and their numbers diminished. Like a shadowy black sunflower blooming, the birds separated in retreat. Pealing back away from the cursed light.

Everest kept her eyes on them until a cawing drew her attention away. She spun around and saw a flock of Shadow Ravens easily 3 times bigger than the previous one a distance away. There was no way she could destroy them all with just a flashlight if they all dive bombed her like the last group.

Realizing the danger at hand, she pulled the flare gun out of her pocket. She may have only one shot, but if she didn't use it she could die. There was no place to run to or hide behind, and there were no lights available that would allow her to heal if she got attacked. She wasn't fully sure what damage the Taken really did to her body, but she didn't want to find out.

She had too much at stake to try a test like that. She was already taking a HUGE risk doing all of this on her own, but she didn't have a choice. She couldn't lose Poet, not now. Not when she still hadn't told him what she had wanted to before the cabin sank.

She NEEDED Poet back. What would happen to them if he couldn't be there for them?

That was why she was doing this. This was the only way she had a chance of bringing Poet back to her. So as the large swarm raced straight at her, she brought the flare gun up, took aim, and fired.

The flare roared as it screamed through the air like a red glowing missile. The swarm parted slightly as the flare sailed right into the center of the flock before it exploded. The explosion of light practically vaporized the entire swarm, and the flare floated slowly to the ground, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

Everest sighed in relief. Just as she closed her eyes, she felt the cable car sway hard to one side. She looked up and saw what remained of the previous flock of Shadow Ravens. They slammed into the mechanical wheels that held the car to the cable. The impacts dislodged the wheels slightly. The car began picking up speed as sparks flew from the wheels and it charged forward grinding down the cable.

Everest flew forward as the car hit the station at the other side.

…

Everest slowly regained awareness again. She wasn't sure how long she was laying on the ground, knocked out. But she did know it was long enough to be surrounded by Taken. She could feel the empty pockets where her revolver and flare gun used to be, now gone with no way of retrieving them. Even though her eyes still weren't fully in focus, she could see her flashlight on the ground just 2 or 3 yards away.

Feeling weak and in a dase, she tried her best to army crawl toward the light as the Taken drew closer. Just when she was about to reach the light, one of the Taken stepped on it. It didn't break the light, but there was no way she could get it now. She rolled away, and the Taken brought up its ax for the killing blow.

There was no way she could get out of this. She had no gun, no light, and she couldn't run. She was still in a daze from flying out of the car like she did.

It was over.

Just as the blade was about to be brought down, a bright red glow landed right next to the Taken. The shadows burnt off surprisingly quickly, and gunshots followed. The multiple Taken that had surrounded her were all destroyed quickly. She looked at the red glow, realizing it was coming from a handheld signal flare. She then looked up at the dog that had thrown it.

It was a border collie who wore a cap and a hiking suit. He walked over to her, offered a paw to help her up. "C'mon, we got more of 'em coming."

She took his paw, and got back up. She then picked up her still glowing flashlight.

"That flashlight's kitten stuff," he told her. He talked to her in a discourteous manner, like he was disgusted with her existence. She barely noticed. "The flares 'll keep the bastards away." His tone didn't change as he handed her 2 flares.

"Y-You can see them too?" she asked with the wide-eyed realization she wasn't crazy. He scoffed at her.

"Heck of course I see them. C'mon, we gotta go this way," he said as he walked further up the path.

"What?" Everest asked as she ran up to meet him. "Why?"

He laughed. "Cuz that's the way the story goes!"

"Yeah but-"

"Come on," he said as he continued forward. There was a moment of silence between the two.

"I lost my gun back there," she finally said. He glared at her, keeping his same attitude.

"Oh, _I've_ got a gun," he said as he waved the Colt Python in the air. "You just keep that light steady on them."

Everest came to a sudden realization. It took a moment, but she recognized the dog from Sunrise Point the day they arrived in Bright Falls. She recognized his voice from over the phone, and they were heading in the direction of Lover's Peak. There was no way this was a coincidence.

He was the kidnapper.

They arrived at an old wooden stairwell, the entryway was boarded up. The kidnapper turned to Everest and said: "There are more flares in the emergency box over there. Hold them off while I get these boards off."

Everest turned around and saw the Taken slowly approaching from different places. The kidnapper and her were boxed in, like soldiers from Dunkirk. Just as the kidnapper was about to pull off the first board, Everest turned back to him and said: "Give me the gun."

He stopped for a moment. "Pft," he scoffed. "No can do husky."

She just looked at him for a moment, he didn't even use her name. "Are you kidding me? Give me the gun!"

"No time for backtalk," he said as he began pulling the boards off. "Get some light on those bastards, that'll keep them off us."

Everest realized that he wouldn't comply even if they had the time to argue. Turning back to the fast approaching Taken, she lit a flare and tossed it at the nearest one. It quickly moved back away from the bright red light, and back into the forest. She ran to the emergency box and pulled out a pack of 3 flares and the single pack of batteries that were inside.

Another Taken from the other side rushed at her. In turn, Everest pulled out another flare and held it above her head. It was a bubble of light that was giving her protection for a moment. The light didn't last long however, as the flare burnt out. She lit another one, having just 2 unlit flares left.

"C'mon husky!" the kidnapper said as he pulled the last board off. She dropped the lit flare behind her, and charged after him. They both walked up the stairs, and continued up the path. There was a wooden path that lead to a balcony that hung the edge of a steep downhill slope.

In the center of it, there was another emergency box. Nailed to the tall wooden post that held it was a sign.

 _Lover's Peak_

This was it, this was where they were to meet for negotiations. Everest also knew that the Taken were coming, surrounding them.

"Give me the gun," she said to him one last time.

"That's not how this works. Get with the program husky." Every single word he said sounded like he was disgusted at her very existence. He wasn't treating what was going on like she expected to. He just seemed angry at everything.

She rose her flashlight toward the nearest Taken and the kidnapper reloaded the gun. They had to fight them off until the Taken stopped coming. There was nothing else they could do.

…

The kidnapper pulled the trigger one last time, and the final Taken vaporized.

"See nothing to it husky," he said with a smug smile on his face. Everest wasn't so happy. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her anger began to swell slightly. Her fingers curled into a fist and she resisted taking a swing at him.

"Let's cut the act now. Where's Poet?"

"I knew you were going to say that," he replied as he turned to look at her. "I've read it all before. Congratulations, you're going to bring about something glorious and terrible. Once we get you some, proper editorial control."

She was still angry, but now was also a bit confused. "What are you talking about?! Where's Poet?!"

"I want the entire manuscript, or he's gonna suffer bad," he said as he pretended to slit his own throat with the backside of one of his fingers. Everest snapped.

"You touch him and I swear-" she didn't finish. She couldn't have as her anger lashed out. She punched him in the face, and the force pulled both of them through the old and weak railing. They both fell down the steep slope, and landed hard on the bottom.

…

Everest wasn't sure how long she was out of it for, but it couldn't have been that long. She saw the kidnapper walking around with his gaze to the ground, like he was looking for something. She looked to the ground in front of her, and saw his gun lying on the ground about a yard away. She crawled forward and grabbed the handle of the gun, cocking the hammer back with an audible click.

The kidnapper heard the click and took off into the woods. Everest stood up and pointed the gun at him, but because she was still in a dase from her fall she could not get a good aim on him until he was gone. He shouted at her over his shoulder.

"Deliver the manuscript or you'll be sorry!"

"No!" she screamed after him. "I swear I'll kill you if you hurt Poet! You hear me! _Come back here!_ " It was no use. He was gone, he had Poet, and he wanted the manuscript because he thought it held some kind of magical power. Everest had no manuscript to give him, and by the way he said it, it sounded like he thought that _she_ had written the pages.

It made sense to her. Why would he ask Everest to give him the manuscript when he could just get Poet to write it? Plus, she had the title page that told who wrote the story. It had to be it. _What else could it be?_

She picked up what both herself and the kidnapper had dropped. She had a gun again, with 12 total ammo; 6 in the gun, 6 on backup. She had one more flare, and was down to just 2 extra batteries. He had also dropped a manuscript page that he must have found.

 _The kidnapper pulled the trigger one last time, and the final Taken vaporized._

" _See nothing to it husky," he said with a smug smile on his face. Everest wasn't so happy. Her eyebrows furrowed, and her anger began to swell slightly. Her fingers curled into a fist and she resisted taking a swing at him._

" _Let's cut the act now. Where's Poet?"_

' _So that's how he knew,'_ Everest thought to herself. She needed to get back to the rest of the Paw patrol and plan her next move.

She made her way through the forest, finding another trail that would lead her back to the Ranger Station. After a while of traveling down the road, her pup tag rang. It was the kidnapper.

"You son of a-" she stopped herself. "Where's Poet?"

" _Enough talk husky. Your job is to deliver the manuscript._ "

She had none to give him. She quickly formulated a plan in her mind, and it should work if he really thought she wrote it.

"Listen- listen to me, I still need some time to write the ending. I need- a week," she said a bit shakily.

" _It's not done?_ "

"I need a week," she reaffirmed.

" _Forget it! The old Bright Falls coal mine, there at noon, tomorrow. Bring the manuscript, and you'll get your boyfriend back. If not, well, you get me?_ "

"Yes, yes I get you."

He hung up after that, and fell to her haunches. She had tonight and tomorrow morning to collect all the manuscript pages? How was she going to do that? She shook her head and stood back up. Right now she needed to get out of the forest. She couldn't save Poet if she was dead.

It was only then she noticed something glinting from under a pile of leaves. If it wasn't for the glow of her flashlight, she never would have noticed it. She had a hunch as to what it was. She pulled the gun back out, and pointed the barrel at the glint.

 _ ***BANG* *SNAP***_

The metal jaws of a bear trap snapped shut, forcing the leaves atop of it into the air for a moment. Rusty had warned Everest about these traps, she didn't want to get a leg caught in those teeth. Using her flashlight, she scanned the forest ground around her. A chill ran up her spine as she saw that the traps were everywhere.

Carefully scanning the ground ahead of her, she began forward once more. She walked with great care, staying clear of the traps. She stopped as she noticed the atmosphere darken. Then she spun around as she heard a trap close on something hard.

The Taken stopped for a moment as the light landed on it. Then it continued forward toward the pup, the trap it stepped on not even phasing it.

She did _not_ have time for this.

…

Everest finally sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. She was now literally out of the woods. She didn't have anymore extra batteries, she just had the one in her flashlight. Plus she only had 4 shots left in her revolver. It was enough to take out one Taken maybe, but no more. She was also out of flares.

However, there was a bit of hope. A car stood under an open roof, bathed in the light coming from above it. There was no way a Taken could get close to the car, they'd be destroyed before they could do serious damage. Besides, the Dark Presence was probably more focused on directly killing her over destroying a single car.

She was happy to find the keys were inside, and she was even happier that it started when she turned the keys. She got happier still when she found a pair of pages on the passenger seat beside her.

 _It was well past midnight, the Paw Patrol had blocked the door, windows, and even the chimney to stop the shadow ravens from entering. They were just glad for the lights, or they were before they flickered slightly. Chase got the courage to unblock one of the windows. His eyes widened with horror._

 _One of those shadow people Everest had talked about was chopping down one of the telephone poles. When it came down, the Taken looked right up at Chase, then with his ax severed the power lines. The cabin instantaneously became encompassed in the most terrifying darkness in existence._

 _Chase fell to his side shaking, more afraid than he had ever been before in his life. What had caused it? He didn't know. An overwhelming fear had just suddenly appeared and poured straight into his very existence. He saw the features of the cabin slowly begin to fade into blackness, and his life flashed before his eyes._

 _His last thought was about how he regretted never telling Skye his feelings for her. Then he just let go._

 _When the Dark Presence left the cabin, Chase was gone, the pups were gone, Ryder and Jake were gone, they had been taken to a place of nightmares. A place that Poet and his family knew all too well._

 **A/N: BUM BUM BUUUUUM!**

 **Guy's I'm just going to lay it out.**

 **I need more feedback. I** _ **Really**_ **need more feedback. I've been beginning some zootopia fanfictions, and the results are very promising. I've begun losing interest in writing this story, and as a result my writing for the story has been suffering.**

 _ **IF I DON'T GET MORE FEEDBACK I'LL LEAVE THIS STORYLINE BEHIND. IF YOU GUYS AREN'T INTERESTED IN THE STORY, I HAVE NO REASON TO WRITE IT. IF I DON'T GET FEEDBACK I BEGIN TO THINK YOU GUYS DON'T LIKE THE STORY. THAT IS WHAT'S KILLING THE STORY, NOT THE HATTERS.**_

 _ **PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. I'LL EVEN TAKE HATE AT THIS POINT. IF YOU GUYS STOOP LOW ENOUGH FOR IT TO COME TO THAT THAN SO BE IT.**_


	9. The End?

Poet sighed and turned away from the book he was reading, looking up to the screen of whatever device the story was being read by. He was sitting in a chair by the fireplace of Jake's Chalet. He was here to adress the concern and confusion being directed tward the story, and the author behind. He smiled for a moment and chuckled to himself, knowing that he was to be used as just a tool for his creator today. He was there to give the comunity a message on the behalf of the pethetic writer, almost like a pawn.

"I guess, I'll just adress the elephant in the room," he started looking tward the vewer. "The story is, as far as my author's concerned, canceled. Or at the very least on a hiaias for an unknown amount of time. Why?" He asked as he picked up a typewriten page. "Let's read what he has to say about the matter; 'I've NEVER and I mean NEVER, EVER put as much work into this story as this one. I mean, it's the longest I've ever writen, and was the sequel to my most successful story ever created.

Poet or Bandit.

That story has 7,000 views, 40 reviews, 11 favorites, and 11 follows, for just 14,656 words!? I'VE NEVER HAD ANYTHING BE THAT SUCCESSFULL IN MY 3 YEARS OF WRITING FANFICTIONS!

So can you imagine my shock, when its sequel, my longest story, the story I've put the most work into, posted a few oneshots to expand it's lore, AND the conecept that drove me to finish Poet or Bandit, pretty much failed?

Well... I guess that's a bit unfair to say that it FAILED. I guess it's better to say, I was... disapointed. I was hoping after I got more chapters out there that the story would become more successful, but it didn't. And I didn't realize until I was halfway through what is up on the sight now what the primary reasions for that was.

Number 1

It's not what the fans wanted.

Most of everyone who started this story started as a fan from Poet or Bandit. A story about a clever and cuning strey pup who had a tormented past, and was just looking for a way to survive. He cleverly wormed his way out of any and all the siguations he got into. THAT'S what you clicked on Poet or Bandit for.

I'm sure in the sequel THAT'S what you wanted to see more of. Perhaps a back story, his years on the run, or starting a family with Everest. Nothing like what I gave you.

'Then why did you give us this piece of garbage?' I hear you asking. It's because, it's what I orrigionaly planned. This concept is what gave berth to Poet or Bandit. I had wanted to write a story like this one, and I realized I could make it better if I published a prequel story. It became Poet or Bandit. What I hadn't anticipated was the overwelming success of Poet or Bandit, and just kinda asumed that it's planed sequel would be just as successful.

For instance, I gave hints and little easter eggs in Poet or Bandit that would imply that Poet had delt with the Taken and that he knew so much more about the story than he let on.

For instance: Chapter 2

 **I unpacked the final moving box, placing its contents on the shelf. I tapped the side of it, it shuddered, and not just because I tapped it. I pulled my paw away, sighing. Why did I ever do this to myself?**

 **I took a step back, and scanned over the object and its 'relatives', I had placed on the shelf. I shuddered thinking about the chaos that could be created if anything these packages carried got loose.**

 **I double checked to make sure everything was in its place, I couldn't afford to let anything get out.**

 **I felt something I could only describe as a shadow of some sort crawling towards me like a flow of water made of pure darkness. I recognized it, and dreaded it instantly. I shivered, and I felt it get within reach of my paw.**

 **I lept for the door, shut it, locked it, with 3 different locks, walked away, and didn't looked back. Thinking about it, how could I have?**

That object and it's relitives were the manuscript for Departure. It described Poet's fall to darkness. He knew the monsters that had been attacking Everest long before she even came to the Paw Patrol.

Chapter 10

 **The bandit bit the guard's arm hard, making him cry out in pain and losing his grip on the gun. Grabbing the dropped gun, the bandit flipped off the safety. He pulled his cuffed paw away from the rail and with practiced aim, shot the chain, vaporizing 2 chain links. Most importantly, he was free.**

Notice the phrase 'with practiced aim'. Poet had used a gun in his own battle against the Taken 3 years before.

Chapter 11

 **I approached a clearing, the trees in this part of the forest were less numerous and were spaced out wider. At first this wasn't a problem, but then one of the cops got smart and shot a flare into the sky. As it was about to start arking down, it exploded. The bright red light illuminated the forest around me. I stuck out like a sore thumb. A flare… oh the irony.**

That last part, 'A flare... oh the irony'. Poet had used flares and flare guns before and they had saved his life. In that chapter, it almost ended his life.

There are more scattered through the story, but I'll leave the rest for you to find if you so desire.

The other reasons? 2 and 3 are closely connected, so here they are.

2: I'm no longer passionet about the story, and my endurence for writing it is gone.

3: I'm no longer even a Paw Patrol fan!

I haven't watched the show in months, and I've just lost intrest in it.

All in all, I just CAN'T keep writing it anymore. It feels like a burden, more like a job than a hobby. Not to mention...

I feel like so few people care. Between about half of the reviews being just a bunch of hate, virtualy no feed back from anyone else, and my complete lack on intrest in writing it anymore, I just can't go on. Not with this story.

To those who really like the story: I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. But I can't go on writing it anymore. I'm done. It's over.

I'll be releasing another chapter, or more or less what I managed to write before everything I had left dried up. It's not complete. Less than half a chapter actualy. But I don't want to see it go to waste.

It'll be uploaded on Holloween.

If you want a chapter that summarizes the lore of this universe, please let me know. As it's something I might do.

 **WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO MY OC POET?**

Personaly, I probably won't be using him again as I'm leaving the Paw Patrol fanbase. But that dosen't mean he has to die as a character. In fact, I want to see what you all manage to make out of him.

I will let anyone use Poet so long as they follow these rules:

1\. In the chapter you introduce Poet, leave an author's note or something to that extent giving me full credit for creating Poet.

2\. He must be a writer to some extent in the story you use him in. (Does not half to be major)

3\. He must have a tragic past of some kind. Example: he witnessed a tramatic event as a young pup. Such as he saw someone die in front of him.

4\. He must be atleast a little bit cunning, clever, and sly. Just don't make him unbelievably over the top.

5\. This one is more of a suggestion. I don't care if you make him a vilon or hero or neither of them in your story. In fact, I curious what you do with him if he does get turned into a vilian or anti-hero.

6\. Let me know so I can read the story too! I'd be overjoyed if someone made a story with one of my OCs in it! :)'"

With all that read, Poet turned back to the screen and said; "And what's going to happen to me in this world you may ask? I'll tell ya. I'm still going to to be here. Reading, writing, and seeing what other people use me for. This story, and this is something my author forgot to mention, is no longer officaly 'canon' to the Poet or Bandit storyline. As well as all the side stories and oneshots writen for this story. Don't expect much from my author either, as he's decided to stop writing Paw Patrol fanfics. If he ever does come back, which is possible, he's told me he'd be making a Second Eddition Poet or Bandit. Not a re-write, but an improved version of the story."

"Talking to yourself again?" Poet's head snaped to the new voice. Startled at first, he calmed down once he realized who was talking.

"Everest!" He said with a smile on his face. "I didn't know you were back yet!"

Everest just laughed and Poet jumped off the chair to walk up to her. They gazed into each other's eyes, as they aproached. They got closer, closer, and just before Everest could go in for a kiss, Poet tackled her. She was surprised for a moment, and got even more surprised when Poet pressed his lips against her's. Just for a moment though. She then closed her eyes and returned the kiss.

When they parted, Everest looked at him with lazy bedroom eyes. "So tell me writer," she said as she slowly brought a paw up to his cheak. "You going to keep me warm through the blizared?"

"Why stop at a blizared?" He asked before he kissed her again.


	10. Chapter 7

Brightfalls

Present Day

Everest drove down the road with an unreadable expression; blinking to keep tears from welling up in her eyes. There was no way she could go back to the Paw Patrol. They were gone. She had thought for a moment that the padge must have been wrong when it said that the Paw Patrol had disapeared. Then she found another page describing how she doughted it, and that it was what had happened. She was now on her own. All she could do was keep moving, and tring to get Poet back. She doubted it was a good idea to head back to the cabin now, so she figured she could head straight for the coal mine.

She was driving using a technique that Poet had taught her. By tieing a stick or a cane to one of her back legs, she could reach the peddles. It took a bit of practice, but it was relatively easy to master if you knew what you were doing. Poet had taught her how to do this in an emergency. An emergency like now.

'Even now, he's looking out for me,' she thought to herself.

The place she drove down was still a heavily wooded area, but not as thick as the forest. The headlights' brights were on, and it cut through the darkness like a hot knife through butter.

*BEEP* *BEEP*, *BEEP* *BEEP*.

She brought the car to a stop as her Pup tag rang.

"Hello?"

 _"Everest. Sorry to call you at this time of night."_ It was the sheriff. _"But we have an FBI agent here. An agent Nightingale."_

"FBI?" she whispered.

 _"He's… eager… to talk to you. Very eager. It's why I called you when it's so late. Could you come down to the station?"_

She still had hours before she had to meet the kidnapper. She could ask for directions while she was at the station, as she didn't even know where the coal mine was. While she wondered why the FBI were getting involved, she realised it could also become an advantage. She could ask for help in Poet's rescue, as she figured that the FBI would have better equipment than local law enforcement.

"All right, I'll be right there."

With that she hung up and was about to step on the gas, when a page that flew through the air landed on the windshield. She quickly opened the door, climbed onto the hood, and grabbed the page.

Everest froze at the FBI agent's command. For a brief moment, she considered surrendering. Everything that had happened this night had been falling apart anyway; she could give in, let someone else deal with the rescue.

But something felt wrong. Call it instinct or intuition: his posture, the way he spoke, yelled, and how he pointed that gun at her face. He wasn't a friend. She glanced to the right and noticed the hole in the fence, the same one that the kidknaper had told her about. She glanced at it once, twice, then dove for it.

Everest slowly pulled up to the station cautiously. She parked into the back lot, and shut the car off not exactly knowing what to expect.

"I'm here sheriff," she said through her pup tag. The sheriff gave a swift reply.

 _"Great. Nightengale, she's he- Hey! Wait a minute!"_ Everest didn't have time to ask what was wrong before a large man brust through the door, pistol drawn and ready to fire.

"This is Agent Nightengale! FBI! Get 'em up Mount Fuji! You're under arrest. You move a mussel I'll unload right in your God-damned face!"

Everest froze at the FBI agent's command. For a brief moment, she considered surrendering. Everything that had happened this night had been falling apart anyway; she could give in, let someone else deal with the rescue.

But something felt wrong. Call it what you will: his posture, the way he spoke, yelled, and how he pointed that gun at her face. He wasn't a friend. She glanced to the right and noticed the hole in the fence, the same one that the kidknaper had told her about. She glanced at it once, twice, then dove for it.

"Stay right where you are Matterhorn!" The FBI agent's shout was followed up by a series of gunshots from his pistol. One nearly grazed the side of her head, and she felt the brief wind created by the bullet. She ran past the old car that had held Poet's tag, there was a hole in the other fence and she ran to it. Just past the hole was a steep slope that lead some 30 or 40 feet back down into the forest. The same forest she had fought so hard to escape from that night.

But there was no way she was going back into the sights of that crased FBI agent. Like it or not, she was better prepared to face the Taken, not the agent. So without even slowing down, she slid down the slope.

In the arctic, she had plenty of practice belly bogoning down the snow and icy hills. Trying to do it on a steep slope made of dirt was another thing though. The diffrence in texture and friction was enough to send her rolling down the rest of the way.

A sudden mound in the earth pushed her fowards off the slope, and she landed on the edge of a cravas. Grabing the edge with her fore-paws, she pulled herself up. But not before she suddenly felt one of her pockets become extremly light. There was the sound of mettle hitting rock below her, and she realized to her horror that she had dropped both her gun and flashlight.

There was no way to get them back. She had enough rock climbing training and experiance to know if something was too dangerous to even attempt to scale. This was without a dout one of those cases.

Everest was about to start walking, but stopped when she began to see the light of about a half dozen flashlights making their way closer to her from her right.

For a moment, she was confused. The confusion didn't last long, as she suddenly heard a police officer shout out to her.

"Come on Everest! Make it easy for us!" The moment she heard that, she turned and ran away from the lights. Now the police were after her? This night just kept getting better and better.

"Fan out! I'll have your jobs if you let her get away!" Talk about a motovational speaker. Those were the words she heard Nightengale shout to the officers via megaphone.

She ran though the forest, away from those precious lights. Tward that darkness she had fought so hard all night to get out of. Then again, something told her right now the darkness was the least of her worries.

She ran quickly and quietly, heading away from the flashlights. After about a half minute of running away, she noticed a path that lead down to what looked like a road. She turned and climbed her way down the steep embankment.

Once she reached the bottom however, a police car aproached from down the road she was climbed to get to. Everest was about to panic, but when the car got closer to her general position something between a roar and a scream echoed throughout the forest.

"Oh no," Everest wispered with wide eyes. She heard the sound of a tree snapping, then saw the tree fall right infront of the car's path. There was no time to stop.

There was the sickening crunch of a mettle vecial being crushed at high speed. Everest saw to her horror the car flip over the tree and land on the other side. It stood upright on the other side, the headlights were smashed, and when she got closer she realized that the interior lights were off. That however wasn't what horrified her.

The driver's body was gone.

The reason she had tried to escape the forest had made itself known again. Did the Darkness really work that fast?

 _"Agent Nightengle, this is Sheriff Breaker, over."_

The radio in the police car still was reciveing power from the battery.

 _"Nightengle, over."_

 _"What the heck were you doing?! You fired at Everest, and she dosen't even have a gun!"_

 _"Sheriff, Everest's running, I don't have time for this."_

 _"Well make the time! You can't just go shooting people in my town!"_

 _"You got a problem with my methods? Take it up with Washington! Over."_

 _"You stay where you are Nightnegle. Out."_

If it had been the Sherriff that told her to surrender, she would have gladly concidered it. But there was no way she would chance it with that crased agent on the loose.

'Nightengale.' Where had Everest heard that name before?

She shook it off. Right now she needed to focus on escaping. There was a path to the side of the road that lead up a hill. She walked up the path, climbing the wooden stairs. The dirt path on the side of the hill wouned around the hills. As she walked, she looked down into the forest and saw the glow of the police force's flashlights.

Then came the roar again.

The tree tops shook, like an un-natural wind had gripped the pines and branches, threatining to knock the trees over. The polices' lights darted about as they tried to understand what was going on in their fear and panic.

Then one of them screamed.

There was the sound of gunshots, and shouting as the police tried despretly to fight off a force they couldn't hope to defeat. Everest could only stare in stunned silience as she heard every terifing scream and gunshot. Then, the lights fell to the ground, the guns ran empty, and the screaming came to a horrific silance. As Everest fell once again to her haunches, she suddenly realized something terrifing.

This nightmare was following her everywhere she went. The cops didn't stand a chance, they were after a pup. Not a monster. Fighting back panied and numbed tears, she stood up and continued down the path. As she rounded a corner, she saw something she was by now unfortunitly used to.

A police car was upside down by the side of the path. Its ocupents missing. The radio was still receving messages, and Everest over heard another conversation between the Sheriff and the agent.

 _"Nightengale to Sheriff Breaker, half the men you asigned me've gone missing. It's Everest's doing!"_

 _"Are you serious!? You're honestly suggesting that that pup has taken out half of my men? Have you seen this dog? She's a husky who whares a wool cap, in the middle of summer!"_

 _"If it's not her then who is it then?! Bigfoot?!"_

 _"I don't know, but I'm not one to jump to conclusions! That tends to come back to bite you in the ass. Out."_

They both sounded ticked off to Everest for one reason or another. Her eyes narrowed. It had been very subtle, but she swore she heard Nightengale's voice slurr. Was he intoxicated?

...

She had been walking aimlessly for a while, the darkness leaving an ever-present chill that ran down her spine. She haden't run into any Taken, but she could only asume that was because they had been dealing with the cops. The shadows still seamed to reach out to her though, threatening to send the horde against her.

Then she saw an old radio in the trunk of a rusted heap that used to be a truck. Curious, she turned it on, and was surprised to find the batteries still had some power. The radio had been tuned into a local radio station, and Everest reconized the voice.

 _"I just took a breath of fresh air and let me tell you, what a night! The air up here is clear, and the stars are shining brightly."_

It was Pat Mane. The radio host she had met when she had first arived. She rememberd how he mentioned he was the night host of the local station.

 _"Any way, let's go to the phones. Caller, you're on."_

 _"Hey Pat, it's Matt Richmen."_

 _"Well hello Matt! How are you tonight?"_

 _"I'm fine, sort of."_

 _"'Sort of'? What do you mean?"_

 _"I live down town close to the Sherrif Station, and there's a big rucus going on down there."_

 _"The Sherrif Station? Do you know what's going on?"_

 _"I'm not sure exactly, but there's a big comotion going on over there and I think I heard some gun shots!"_

 _"Gun shots?!"_

 _"Yeah, you know, from a pistol! It sounds serious Pat."_

 _"Hmm, that's actualy not too far away from where I am. I'm going to need to look into this."_

 _"Could you? A lot of people down here are nervious. They were poping of guns like 15 minutes ago."_

 _"All right, I will. Thanks Matt, we're going off the air now for some music."_

A few cords of the music started playing before the speed of the music began to slow down; eventualy coming to a hault as the radio's batteries died.

Looking up, Everest saw a radio antena in the distance, with the lights of a small building glowing beneath it. She realized that it had to be the place Pat was broadcasting from. It gave her an idea.

If she was right, he had seamed to be a nice guy. She could ask him for directions to the coal mine, and if she was lucky she might even be able to borow a car. Everest smiled as she reconized that she now had a much clearer objective and now destination.

 ***SLAM***

She jumped back as the crushed police car slamed down on the ground in front of her, almost crushing her. She took quick breaths, in an attempt to calm her heart. When she finished that task, she turned to the totaled police car. When she turned on her flashlight, and cast its beam onto the car, the oily patches of liquid darkness that coated the car burning off.

Her mouth dried as she realized that the Dark Presance must have picked up this car and thrown it all the way over here. These cars wern't light, and she came to the conclusion the Dark Presance must have been getting stronger.

At that moment, a cylndrial object dropped out of the car, and rolled closer to Everest. She looked at it for a moment in confusion, before she picked it up and got a closer look at it. It took just a moment later, but she realized what this was.

A flash bang grinade.

All of a sudden, she realized that it was an ideal weapon for the siguation she was. Placing it in one of her pockets, she turned back to the police car and aproached it. Inside, she found 3 more flash bangs, bringing her total to 4.

She didn't have any amo; all of what she had left had been loaded in her revolver, and that was gone. She didn't even have a flashlight either. All she had were these flashbangs and her flashlight.

While she didn't like those odds, she had to get to the radio station somehow. As she was about to start moving, she felt the wind pick up, and the shades around her darkened. She spun to her right as she felt the Taken aproach her. There were 2, one with an ax the other with a hatchet, and they were charging her. Without a gun, she would need to take them out with other means.

Quickly, she pulled out a flashbang grinade and pulled the safty pin. As she was about to throw it, one of the taken swung its ax down, missing as she rolled away. In her panic though, she dropped the flashbang. She rolled away and as the Taken


End file.
